Paul Clement emerged for the post-match press conference with his tie removed and his shirt collar loosened slightly. It was down to the unexpected mid-October heat, he said, but a sense of a weight being lifted was palpable nonetheless. Swansea City, more assertive than at any point in the season, had deserved their first home points from a match that had been laden with consequence from the outset and nobody minded that they had enjoyed a healthy slice of luck in getting them.

If this is the win that resets Swansea’s trajectory, so positive under Clement until recent weeks, then the Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Jonas Lössl will be high on the list of people to thank. Swansea’s early vigour had faded when the Dane, receiving a straightforward back-pass three minutes before half-time, paused to assess his options. They seemed clear-cut: there was no team-mate free to receive possession and, with Tom Carroll and Jordan Ayew in his eyeline, a wallop towards the halfway line would hardly be sacrilege. Instead he looked for a short pass that simply was not there, presenting the ball to Carroll. He made straight for the penalty area and centred for Tammy Abraham, who scored the first of his two goals.

Christian Eriksen sinks Bournemouth for Spurs’ first Wembley league win Read more

“The mistake was so obvious that we don’t have to speak about it,” the Huddersfield manager, David Wagner, said of Lössl’s aberration. “Yes, we like to play out from the back if possible, but if it’s necessary and the pressure is too high then we hit the ball. But it happens in football that a player makes a wrong decision and misjudges a situation.”

Although coming after the fact, it was heartening to hear a manager endorse the more direct option. Goals of that nature are not uncommon and sometimes dogma risks taking exaggerated priority over expediency. But this one owed at least something to Swansea’s more positive approach, fine-tuned over the international break by Clement, who had decided the day after last month’s 1-0 defeat at West Ham to adopt a high-pressing 4-3-3 formation and saw eight days of training ground drills pay off.

“The goal was a mistake but I’d argue that we practised this situation,” Clement said. “We persevered playing high, forced the error, and it was a good ball to provide Tammy with the goal.”

Swansea’s players started both halves at a breakneck tempo. Abraham forced a sharp save from Lössl early in the first with a snap shot from Carroll’s lofted pass before finding greater reward three minutes into the second. His opening goal had been straightforward but this one, jabbed in from almost on the goalline to make sure Ayew’s angled chip went in, bore the hallmark of a seasoned poacher. The chance had arisen when Aaron Mooy, brought on at half-time, worked diligently to track back and tackle Luciano Narsingh only to inadvertently release Ayew.

Bayern Munich batter Freiburg while Hertha Berlin players ‘take a knee’ Read more

It in effect killed Huddersfield off, although Wagner announced himself happier with a second half in which their only real chance was Rajiv van La Parra’s deflected effort against the bar. They should have taken the lead during Swansea’s dip midway through the opening period, Tom Ince sweeping over when unmarked and then appealing for a penalty after a coming-together with Martin Olsson. Wagner pointed to “a lot of unlucky situations against us”, suggesting Leroy Fer could have been sent off for a charge on Lössl, but he could have few complaints and it is cause for concern that Huddersfield have not won since taking six points from their opening two games. Manchester United and Liverpool lie in wait next.

For Clement, this was the performance he needed to prevent next weekend’s visit of Leicester assuming monumental proportions. “I think we have to enjoy this,” he said. “We played well and it’s hard to win games at this level. What this does is lay down a platform for a standard that we need to expect and achieve as a minimum in every game we play.” He, and his team, will smarten up and go again.