Swansea striker Bafetimbi Gomis kept Aston Villa mired in the relegation dogfight as the France international’s late goal clinched a 1-0 win at Villa Park on Saturday.

Gomis shrugged off a host of missed chances earlier in the Premier League clash to bag the winner three minutes from full-time.

It was a major blow for Villa, who are just three points above the bottom three after a first defeat in four matches pierced the optimism engendered by new boss Tim Sherwood, who had overseen three successive victories.

While Sherwood will be cursing his luck, in truth Gomis should have put the game well beyond Villa before he finally scored only his sixth goal of the season.

Gomis a clear sight of goal early on, but he fired straight at Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan from eight yards.

He then took far too long to get a shot away when another chance fell his way later in the half, allowing the Villa defence to snuff out the danger.

The former Lyon striker, who was at the centre of a health scare when he fainted during a match recently, was denied by Guzan again after being played in by South Korea midfielder Ki Sung-yueng.

Villa lost England midfielder Tom Cleverley to injury, but they threatened for the first time moments later when Fabian Delph tested Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski with a powerful effort.

Guzan was fortunate not to gift Swansea the opening goal as he flapped at Gylfi Sigurdsson’s free-kick and Wayne Routledge turned the ball goalwards, only for Ciaran Clark to hack off the line.

Swansea went close at the start of the second half through Sigurdsson, whose 30-yard free-kick was tipped over by Guzan.

The visitors were pushing hard for the opener, but another chance went begging when Gomis headed over from a Routledge cross.

Villa should have taken the lead soon after as Christian Benteke’s knock down fell to Gabriel Agbonlahor in the penalty area, yet the striker’s scuffed effort was deflected wide.

Gomis was left stomping the turf in frustration after Ciaran Clark blocked his shot.

But what looked like being a futile afternoon for Gomis ended on a high as he netted the winner in the 87th minute.

It was a tribute to Gomis’s determination to make amends for his earlier travails as he beat Clark to Jefferson Montero’s cross and slotted home from 10 yards to seal the points in dramatic fashion.