Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LATICS BRUISE ROTTEN CHERRIES
JORDAN AYEW and Wilfried Bony finally gave Swansea fans something to shout about as they saw off high-flying Wolves.
Ayew’s impressive early solo effort sent the hosts in at the break 1-0 ahead.
The Championship leaders hit back when boss Nuno Espirito Santo put on their big-hitters Diogo Jota and Leo Bonatini in the second half.
Jota levelled two minutes after coming on with a fine finish, but Bony secured the topflight club’s safe passage with a close-range finish for his third goal of the season in the 69th minute.
It gave new Swans boss Carlos Carvalhal his first win at the Liberty Stadium.
And the Welsh club now face an FA Cup trip to League Two Notts County a week on Saturday.
Both teams tried to play their accustomed passing games, but were not helped by horribly wet conditions.
Carvalhal made eight changes to the side which drew at Newcastle on Saturday.
And Wolves boss Santo also altered his squad, prioritising promotion back to the top flight.
Swansea dominated from the start and deservedly took the lead in the 11th minute after a fine individual effort from Ayew for his seventh goal of the season.
The Ghana international went on a devastating run before finishing calmly with a lofted rightfoot finish.
Swansea nearly doubled their advantage when Roque Mesa thumped a spectacular right-foot volley wide from the edge of the box after a corner was not fully cleared.
At the other end, Alfie Mawson, one of three first team regulars to keep their place, made a vital block from Alfred N’diaye’s fierce shot.
But right-back Connor Roberts should have doubled the hosts’ advantage before the break, only for keeper Will Norris to come off his line smartly to save his toepoke after Bony’s defencesplitting pass.
Wolves improved after the break as Costa curled over after a decent move involving impressive England Under-17 starlet Morgan Gibbs-white.
Santo threw on his attacking regulars Jota and Bonatini with 25 minutes to go.
It quickly paid off when Jota ran on to Miranda’s long ball over the top to cut in past two challenges and score with a low right-foot effort into the bottom corner for his 12th goal of the season in the 66th minute.
But Wolves’ equaliser was quickly negated as Swansea responded by retaking the lead.
Tom Carroll’s cross picked out Bony in the box and he scored with a low toe-poke after Wolves’ defence were caught on their heels and failed to clear.
It was Wolves’ first defeat since October and they return to league action on Saturday at home to Nottingham Forest.
Swansea host Liverpool next Monday as they eye a survival mission. BOURNEMOUTH were humiliated as Wigan produced another piece of FA Cup magic.
Eddie Howe paid the price for making eight changes to his Premier League side on a night when Benik Afobe had a shocker.
The striker fluffed a hat-trick of chances as the League One leaders repeated their FA Cup third-round win over the Cherries five years ago when they famously won the competition.
The roles were reversed when the sides met in 2013. Bournemouth were fighting to win promotion from League One, while Wigan were trying to stay in the top flight.
Survival is clearly Howe’s priority and the reason why he made so many changes. It contributed to Bournemouth’s disjointed display and Wigan took full advantage to score on nine minutes after some great approach work by the tricky Ryan Colclough.
He skinned Ryan Fraser on the left to set up Will Grigg, whose flick was parried by Artur Boruc and Sam Morsy drilled home the rebound into the bottom corner.
The Cherries were poor and Afobe headed weakly at Jamie Jones from six-yards out when he should have scored. Fraser was denied by Jones after the break, and the awful Afobe fell over when played through on goal, before he missed when fed by Jordon Ibe.
And Wigan killed the tie off with two goals in three minutes.
Dan Burn finished at the back post on 73 minutes after Noel Hunt had nodded on Max Power’s cross.
And Power centred again for Callum Elder to head in a third.