Preston North End made it back-to-back Championship wins with a 3-1 victory over Swansea City at Deepdale thanks to goals from Sepp van den Berg, Emil Riis and Ben Whiteman.

There was a contentious decision after just five minutes as North End hit their opponents on the counter attack, with Emil Riis latching onto a Sean Maguire through ball.

The Dane seemed to be bundled over by Swans defender Joel Latibeaudiere though but to the bemusement of the home side nothing was given by referee Tom Bramall despite major appeals.

The game was brought to life in the 20th minute though as the away side took the lead. Liam Cullen's pass found Piroe who had peeled away from the North End backline, and the Dutchman made it two league goals in as many matches for the Welsh side by sliding the ball past Daniel Iversen.

It was another Dutchman though who got on the scoresheet almost immediately to equalise for the Lilywhites in Sepp van den Berg.

Having not scored a senior goal before his tap-in against Morecambe in midweek, the Liverpool loanee controlled a cross from Josh Earl, spun the Swansea defender before slamming a shot beyond Steven Benda and into the corner of the net to bring the Deepdale crowd to its feet.

North End were the better side for the majority of the first half and they had several chances to extend their lead, with Emil Riis testing Benda and the Dane broke through again just before half-time.

All Riis needed to do was square the ball to Ryan Ledson for a simple finish but he stumbled and his pass was cut out by Swansea's Brandon Cooper at a vital moment.

After having plenty of chances, Riis finally did get his goal though on the stroke of half-time, controlling a cross from Daniel Johnson which evaded everyone in the box before slamming the ball past a helpless Benda between the sticks.

 

 

 

 

North End started the second half on the front foot and they perhaps should have had a man advantage as Benda wiped out Riis outside the box as he was advancing towards goal, but the German only received a yellow card.

From the resulting free kick though, Ben Whiteman's curling effort evaded everyone in the box and found the corner of Benda's net to give the Lilywhites a two goal advantage.

PNE were basically in cruise control and ramping on the pressure even more with a fourth goal in their sights, with Swansea unable to cope with the hosts multiple threats going forward.

Riis had a chance on 70 minutes to extend his scoring streak after Daniel Johnson flicked on Ryan Ledson's outside of the boot cross, but the striker blazed the ball over the bar from close range.

The away side rarely threatened in the second half and North End ended up being full value for their three points in a week where they won all three matches and have now moved up the Championship table to 16th position.

FULL TIME: Preston North End 3-1 Swansea City