West Ham ended a five-game losing run as they gained a much-needed win over struggling Swansea City. The Hammers took a deserved lead just before half-time when Cheikhou Kouyate collected a Robert Snodgrass pass and scored with a stunning low 25-yard strike. Swansea substitute Luciano Narsingh came closest to an equaliser for the visitors but his powerful strike went just over. The result leaves Swansea in the bottom three of the Premier League with only six games left to secure their top-flight survival. For West Ham though, they move up to 14th and now have an eight-point cushion between themselves and 18th-placed Swansea. The pre-game stats made unpleasant reading for West Ham, as they had lost five Premier League games in a row, gone seven games without a win and had won only once in nine to be dragged into a relegation battle. Manager Slaven Bilic had called for his side to stay together and was rewarded with a battling performance and a solid defensive effort that nullified a lacklustre Swansea side. Kouyate's strike was a rare moment of quality in the game and came after captain Mark Noble, making his 400th appearance for the club, played forward to Snodgrass, who set up the Senegal midfielder. As the Swans defence backed off, Kouyate was given the space to drill home a beautiful strike, the lead deserved after Swans goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski had earlier denied Michail Antonio and Robert Snodgrass. With West Ham defending well, especially through last-ditch blocks from James Collins and Sam Byram, the Hammers held on for a win, which Noble described as "their biggest for a number of years". The only negative for the Hammers was a hamstring injury to Michail Antonio, who had looked lively leading the line before he pulled up as he sprinted down the left wing during the first half. While West Ham move up to 36 points, Swansea, on 28 points, face a huge fight on their hands if they are going to extend their six-year run of top-flight football for another year. The Swans, who conceded three late goals in a 3-1 home defeat against Tottenham on Wednesday, will need to play much better than they did at the London Stadium, where there only had one effort on target. With the normally effective Gylfi Sigurdsson having a quiet match, the Swans best work came from Jordan Ayew but he could not do enough to force his side level. Second-half substitute Fernando Llorente, the club's top goalscorer this season, had missed two games because of an ankle injury but was off the pace and did not look like scoring. Manager Paul Clement could also be without Jack Cork for a while. The midfielder limped off with an ankle injury after he landed badly in challenging for a header.