If ever Alan Sheehan needed proof that Zan really is the man, Swansea City's 2-1 triumph over Norwich City was it.
Following a run of just one win in seven league matches, the Swans sorely needed a victory to quieten the noise around the club's attacking struggles and attempt to get their play-off push back on track.
The visit of the struggling Canaries - who had lost seven of their opening 11 Championship games - represented the ideal opportunity for Swansea to make their mark.
And yet, Sheehan was still left indebted to the dynamite inside Zan Vipotnik's right boot on two occasions as he earned the hosts a hard-fought victory at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Now on six league goals for the campaign, it means only Coventry duo Brandon Thomas-Asante and Haji Wright have netted more times in the Championship this term than Swansea's Slovenian hitman.
The fact the 23-year-old scored twice in a fixture that Swansea mustered up a lowly expected goals (xG) total of just 0.29 typifies how clinical the forward was. And this is nothing new this season.
According to stats website Fotmob, Swansea's xG for the season is just 10.5 - the lowest of the 24 sides in the second tier.
And yet, Vipotnik is averaging 0.86 goals per 90 this season, with only three players who have netted more than once in the league having a better return (Norwich's Jovon Makama, Ipswich's Jack Clarke and Coventry's Haji Wright).
Such has been Swansea's inability to consistently create clear cut openings this season, Vipotnik's ability to massively outperform his league xG of 2.57 has been crucial.
READ MORE: Zan Vipotnik is Getting Hot, Says Swansea City Boss Alan Sheehan
Add in his League Cup goals against Plymouth Argyle and Nottingham Forest, along with his last-gasp equaliser in Slovenia's World Cup qualifier with Sweden in September, and the frontman now boasts a stunning tally of a goal every other game for club and country this season, a figure that improves even further when narrowed down to goals per minute.
To think, things could have been completely different.
Following a testing debut campaign at the club - where he scored seven goals in 44 appearances across all competitions - on the back of his exit from crisis club Bordeaux, Vipotnik could well have departed south Wales in the summer of 2025.
Indeed, Sheehan - in his first full season as permanent head coach - had been willing to offload the centre-forward and was eager to bring in other options, as later occured when the club forked out an initial £6m to bring Adam Idah to south Wales from Scottish giants Celtic.
Whether it be through luck, good judgement or other factors, the Swans have been hugely fortunate to still have Vipotnik in their ranks.
READ MORE: The Zan Vipotnik Question for Swansea City . . . To Sell or Hold Faith
To his credit, the forward quickly pointed to the collective after his two-goal salvo against the Canaries - one that saw him claim the club's player of the match award with an emphatic 92% of the vote.
“It’s nice for me to have more goals than last season, but I also knew that last year was not my best," he told the club website.
“So I hoped to be able to pass this number this season and I hope I will be able to continue like this.
“But the main thing is the team, getting the win and I hope we can move forward with confidence into a big game on Wednesday (against Man City in the EFL Cup).”
Boss Sheehan was understanbly grateful for the efforts of the Slovenia international.
"His goals today were two moments of excellence really, they were top, top quality. He deserved it because he is a great lad," said the Irishman.
Relying so heavily on a single player is never wise, but Swansea can be truly grateful that the man who has already surpassed his goal total from the entirety of last season is well and truly delivering the goods to ensure the club have every chance of making this a successful campaign.
