Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
OWLS COP THE OLD SWAN-TWO
Ayew and Dyer set up Carvalhal’s men for last-eight clash
JORDAN AYEW and Nathan Dyer fired Swansea into the quarterfinals for the first time since 1964.
It was a sweet win for charismatic Swansea boss Carlos Carvalhal who was forced out of Hillsborough last year.
He has since dragged Swansea off the foot of the Premier League and now they have a last-eight tie to relish against either Spurs or Rochdale.
But the top-flight strugglers continue to do it the hard way in the Cup this term after second-half goals from Ayew and Dyer.
After knocking out Wolves and Notts County previously in replays back at the Liberty Stadium, last night it was the Owls’ turn.
Swansea are the first Premier League side to be taken to FA Cup replays in the third, fourth and fifth rounds since Middlesbrough in 2007.
But the Welsh club are not complaining after overcoming freeing temperatures to make the last eight for the first time since their run to the semis 54 years ago. Carvalhal made five changes to the side which lost 4–1 at Brighton in just their second loss under the Portuguese coach.
The visitors made six changes after only one win in seven games under Jos Luhukay.
The hosts soon grew into the contest and began dominating possession.
Yet it was Wednesday who nearly took the lead in the 29th minute but keeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt did well to turn away Jacob Butterfield’s right-foot shot.
Swansea responded in the 32nd minute when Sam Clucas put an ambitious overhead kick wide from Tom Carroll’s dinked pass.
But the Championship side responded as Lucas Joao tested Nordfeldt again with a left-foot shot after a fine ball from Butterfield.
Swansea could have gone in ahead at the break but Ki Sung-yueng fired into the side-netting and Tammy Abraham failed to get enough on Connor Roberts’ cross.
Carvalhal made a double substitution at the break to throw on Ayew and Martin Olsson.
The move enabled Clucas to move into the centre of midfield and provided the hosts with much-needed urgency. And Swansea took the lead 10 minutes into the second half from Ayew’s close-range finish for his ninth goal of the season.
The main credit goes to Carroll whose right-foot effort from outside the box hit both posts before rebounding to Ayew to slot in.
Dyer scored in the 80th minute with a low finish through Cameron Dawson’s legs to clinch the victory.