Swansea 1-2 Leicester: Shinji Okazaki strike and Federico Fernandez own goal hand Michael Appleton winning start as Foxes caretaker manager

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In the final few minutes here, patches of blue sky appeared above the Liberty Stadium and calm briefly replaced the swirling Tempest that was Storm Brian.

Leicester City Football Club has been at the centre of a storm following Craig Shakespeare's sacking but this much-needed win over Swansea brought a semblance of peace and plenty of satisfaction.

It showed that Leicester's presence in the Premier League relegation zone was an anomaly. They have so much quality at their disposal and, as these three points propelled them to mid-table, they can look forwards and upwards again. 

Michael Appleton won his first match as Leicester City caretaker manager on Saturday as his side beat Swansea City 2-1 away

Leicester were gifted a first-half lead by Swans defender Federico Fernandez, who scored an own goal on 25 minutes

Defender Fernandez looked sick after his error, while Leicester celebrated his misfortune at the Liberty Stadium in Wales

Shinji Okazaki doubled Leicester's lead early in the second half with a bundled finish following a pass from Riyad Mahrez

Alfie Mawson scored a great goal as he flicked the ball up for himself to nail a stunning volley but it wasn't enough for a point

MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS AND PL TABLE

SWANSEA: (4-3-3): Fabianski 7; Naughton 5, Fernandez 4, Mawson 6, Olsson 5.5; Sanches 6 (Routledge 78), Britton (c) 6 (Ki 46, 6), Carroll 6; Narsingh 5 (Dyer 56, 6), Abraham 5.5, Ayew 5

SUBS NOT USED: Nordfeldt (GK); Van der Hoorn, Clucas, Rangel

MANAGER: Paul Clement 6

GOAL: Mawson 56

LEICESTER (4-4-1-1): Schmeichel 6; Simpson 6.5, Morgan (c) 6.5, Maguire 6.5, Fuchs 6; Mahrez 7.5 (Gray 86), Iborra 7, Ndidi 6.5, Albrighton 7.5; Okazaki 8 (King 68, 6); Vardy 7

SUBS NOT USED: Hamer (GK); Chilwell, Iheanacho, Amartey, Slimani

CARETAKER MANAGER: Michael Appleton 7.5

GOALS: Fernandez own goal 25; Okazaki 49

BOOKED: Fuchs 15

REF: Michael Oliver (Northumberland) 6

ATTENDANCE: 20,521

MOTM: Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City)

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Leicester broke the deadlock when a long-range pass from Shinji Okazaki found Riyad Mahrez, whose cross was headed into his own net by Swansea's Federico Fernandez

Man of the match and scorer Okazaki was on the pitch for 68 minutes, covering lots of ground and touching the ball 34 times. CLICK HERE for more from Sportsmail's brilliant MATCH ZONE

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Whoever comes in to replace Shakespeare - Sean Dyche and Claude Puel are the front-runners - they will have plenty to work with and, after this win, something to build upon.

Shinji Okazaki was outstanding here, having been restored to the side by caretaker manager Michael Appleton. Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and Marc Albrighton were also impressive and Leicester's first league win since August 19 should have been more handsome.

Federico Fernandez put through his own net to get them started, but it took Okazaki's goal early in the second-half to ensure the scoreline accurately reflected Leicester's control.

Though Alfie Mawson replied for Swansea soon afterwards, their comeback soon blew out and another disappointing home performance returned Paul Clement's side to the mire.

Appleton said: 'It has been a difficult week for everyone at the football club, especially myself given my relationship with Craig.

'But the opportunities were created and the way we created them, and the way we moved the ball, was very pleasing.'

Appleton (pictured issuing instructions) kept his cool on the touchline during an end-to-end game played in wet conditions

Leicester started the game very positively, with Okazaki (left) causing plenty of problems for the Swansea backline

Okazaki had the game's first shot after just one minute, before Marc Albrighton and Jamie Vardy also worked the goalkeeper

Clement said: 'It was a forward step last week [against Huddersfield] but today we took a backward step. Our performance in the first-half did the damage.

'At the moment I see some confidence issues, it's up to me and the players to be mentally tough in difficult situations.'

Feelings from a dramatic week were still running high in the away end, with a 'Rudkin Out' banner greeting the the teams as they walked out.

Jon Rudkin, Leicester's director of football, was influential in the decision to sack Shakespeare after Monday night's draw with West Brom and the fans would later chant words to the same effect.

But once the goals went in, most of this bitterness was forgotten.

Shakespeare's assistant Appleton stepped in as caretaker to pick up the pieces during the week and his team did everything asked of them during a dominant first-half performance. 

Lukasz Fabianski (right) did well to deny Okazaki, Albrighton and Vardy but could not prevent Fernandez scoring an own goal

Vardy celebrated Fernandez's own goal with team-mate Christian Fuchs (second left) while the Swans man looked dejected

Mahrez (left), who created the own goal with a cross that Fernandez deflected past keeper Fabianski, also celebrated

Inside the opening minute, Marc Albrighton crossed from the left and Okazaki flicked a header towards goal, forcing Lukasz Fabianski to punch away.

That was merely the beginning as Leicester stroked the ball around and set the tempo in lashing wind and rain, barely allowing Swansea a look-in.

Fabianski made an outstanding one-handed save to turn Albrighton's well-struck effort over after Okazaki worked Danny Simpson's throw across to him 10 yards out.

Fabianski was again required to touch a Leicester shot over the bar when his defenders failed to get tight on Vardy, and the Pole also dived at the feet of Wilfried Ndidi after the Leicester man didn't make a proper contact with Simpson's cross.

The contrast between the two sides when going forward was stark and a Leicester breakthrough became inevitable.

And having struggled to contain Leicester's fluent attack anyway, Swansea's back line then gifted them an opener.

Okazaki's long pass looked destined to sail out for a goal kick, but Mahrez had other ideas. His persistence kept the ball in play and, as Swansea players appealed to the officials in vain, the Algerian turned back to cross.

Leicester could have been 2-0 up by half time but playmaker Mahrez headed a chance just wide of Fabianski's left-hand post

It was 2-0 shortly after the interval though when Okazaki bundled home from close range after being set up by Mahrez

Mawson gave Swansea hope with a fantastic finish on 56 minutes. It was the defender's first Premier League goal this season

His ball was intended for Vardy but Fernandez in front of him completed the job with a clinical finish of his own, heading powerfully past his own keeper Fabianski.

It is a baffling habit of Swansea's. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, they have scored 11 own goals in the Premier League - more than twice as many as any other side.

Clement, already animated on the touchline, was infuriated by the way his defenders switched off, waiting for the linesman's flag to be raised against Mahrez. But it was all Leicester deserved.

And it got even better inside the first five minutes of the second-half. Albrighton advanced down the left, cut infield slightly and pinged a pinpoint pass to Mahrez, who was just onside.

The Algerian had the presence of mind to know Okazaki was in a great position in the centre, touched the ball across and the forward was left to convert a tap-in.

It was his fifth of the season - having scored five in his previous 51 league games. 

Kasper Schmeichel was well beaten by Mawson's brilliant volley, which made the centre back look like a leading striker

Mawson's goal gave the Swans momentum and Foxes boss Appleton reacted by taking Okazaki off for midfielder Andy King

Appleton's tactical switch had the desired effect as Leicester closed the game out to register their second PL win this season

'What Shinji brings us that Kelechi [Iheanacho] doesn't is when he's out of possession,' said Appleton. 'He has that control and knowhow. He did great for us today.'

'Mahrez was very slightly offside,' insisted Clement. 'It was marginal. But our positioning was not right.'

Yet, from nowhere, Swansea managed to grab themselves a lifeline.

From a Renato Sanches corner, Andre Ayew touched on at the near post and Mawson controlled, spun and fired the ball into the net with a sharpness that belied his role as a defender.

In a flash, the mood inside the Liberty Stadium went full circle. The volume was ratcheted up and all the momentum was suddenly with the hosts.

And when Appleton replaced Okazaki with Andy King and left Vardy to chase alone up front, it looked as though Leicester were preparing for a long final 20 minutes.

But they managed to take the string out of the game and Vardy should have wrapped it up but Fabianski saved well when the England forward was clean through and seemingly certain to score.

There was late Swansea pressure, with substitute Wayne Routledge shooting into the side-netting and fooling half the ground into thinking he'd scored. But the storm soon blew itself out.