The flying Swan
James hits wonder goal to fire club’s Wembley dream
Daniel James will be running through Premier League scouts’ minds after he sprinted 84 yards in 8.48 seconds to spark a spectacular turnaround for Swansea.
Brentford had a second-half meltdown after dominating the first and making Graham Potter’s side pay with a lightning counterattack finished off by Ollie Watkins.
However, Thomas Frank was left stunned as his team imploded in front of his eyes. Luke Daniels’s own goal levelled things up before James left a trail of Brentford defenders in his wake and produced a cool finish to claim the lead.
It got even worse for Brentford when Ezri Konsa was sent off for hacking down the flying winger before Bersant Celina and George Byers booked the Welsh side’s place in the FA Cup quarter-finals for the second successive season.
“I would say Dan’s next move would have to be to the Premier League,” said Potter. “The ability to sprint repeatedly, it’s as high a level as you’re going to see.
“He’s got lots to work on, but he had an end product today. I thought he was sensational.
“He just gets on with being a footballer. He’s been incredible for us, and we’re looking forward to working with him for the future.”
A sparsely populated Liberty Stadium greeted the teams amid talk of an FA Cup boycott against the club’s American owners, and the absent Swansea fans looked like they had picked a good game to miss as Brentford dominated the first half.
Byers sent an early effort just wide, but for the rest of the half, there was only one team who looked likely to score.
The dominant Bees finally stung Swansea with a classic counterattack goal after 28 minutes. Romaine Sawyers won possession on the edge of his own area and sent Said Benrahma surging downfield. The Algerian playmaker passed the ball on to Neal Maupay, who teed up Watkins to find the top corner for his fourth goal in five games.
Potter’s side looked as if they were going to be steamrollered but started the second half with a quick-fire double to shatter Brentford dreams of a first FA Cup quarter-final appearance for 30 years.
The first came four minutes into the second period after Konsa tugged back James before he latched on to a through-ball on the edge of the box.
Celina bent the free-kick over the wall and on to a post but, fortunately for the hosts, the ball bounced off the back of Brentford goalkeeper Daniels and crept over the line.
James then took matters into his own hands to score a stunning solo goal. He closed down Maupay on the edge of his own area after a botched free-kick routine and sprinted 80 yards downfield before finding the bottom corner.
Frank looked on in disbelief moments later when Konsa flew into James after being beaten to Yoann Barbet’s loose pass. The defender had already been booked, but referee Stuart Attwell showed him a straight red card.
Celina further punished their indiscipline after 66 minutes when he tricked his way past Sergi Canos and Julian Jeanvier before beating Daniels at his near post.
Swansea thought they had a fourth a minute later when Celina’s shot was saved into the path of Connor Roberts, but his follow-up was wrongly ruled out for offside.
The fourth finally came in the last minute of normal time when Byers side-footed in from the edge of the box to finish the job with his second goal in two weeks.
“We made two big mistakes which we could have avoided, and we gave the ball to James, who is the only player in the country who shouldn’t be given the ball 30 yards into his own half,” said Frank.
“I can’t fault my players’ mental strength. I’ve never played a game where we’ve been so dominant and it goes so wrong.”