Great day as Swans boost play-off hopes
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 0 SWANSEA CITY 2 –
JAMAL Lowe and Jay Fulton struck either side of half-time as Swansea City beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 last night to rise up to third place in the Championship table.
In what was a tight first half at Hillsborough, Swansea took the lead when they capitalised on a sloppy defensive error from the Owls which allowed Lowe to net his 12th goal of the campaign.
The Swans had to defend well to keep Wednesday at bay, with Freddie Woodman making a fine save to deny Liam Shaw, while Ryan Bennett produced some heroic interventions too.
And the visitors sealed victory 17 minutes from time when Fulton headed home from Connor Roberts’s cross as the Swans clinched a second win in four days to move to within seven points of Watford in second spot.
Bournemouth maintained the pressure on Swansea with a 2-1 win at Huddersfield last night that keeps them four points behind Steve Cooper’s men in fifth place.
Cooper stuck with the same starting XI that turned on the style to beat Millwall 3-0 at The Den last time out.
The only change to Swansea’s squad from that triumph in the English capital came on the bench as former Sheffield United man Kieron Freeman replaced Ben Cabango, who was left out after breaching Covid-19 regulations by allegedly holding a social gathering at his home on Saturday night.
Darren Moore’s side started the evening six points adrift of safety, although they looked to swiftly get out of the blocks.
However, a quick counter from the Swans saw the lively Andre Ayew, who netted in the reverse fixture at the Liberty Stadium, drill into the side netting after cutting in from the right flank.
In truth, the opening stages were fairly open, which ensured there were spaces for both sides to look to exploit.
Swansea did manage to muster a kind of grip on the game, but some wastefulness, highlighted when Ryan Manning was unable to pick out Lowe when in a five-on-three situation, ensured Kieren Westwood was untested.
Having kept his 20th clean sheet of the campaign in all competitions last time out, Woodman pulled off a stunning onehanded save to keep out Shaw’s driven strike after Matt Grimes was unable to control something of a hospital pass from Kyle Naughton.
It was a real let-off for the Swans, who had been untroubled until that point.
And after surviving a nervy moment themselves, they emphatically capitalised on a mistake from Tom Lees at the other end when Ayew hunted down the Sheffield Wednesday defender before squaring to Lowe, who had the simple task of lashing home from around 10 yards out to put Swansea ahead.
It was a gift that Swansea were only too willing to accept as Lowe netted his third goal in just 44 minutes of action.
That slip-up clearly affected the Owls, who have not claimed a single point from games in which they have gone behind this season, while the confidence oozed through Swansea’s ranks.
Ayew well and truly showed his worth on the ball in attacking areas while others, including the typically productive Wayne Routledge, played their part.
But to their credit, the hosts pushed after the restart and caused Swansea problems.
In similar fashion to the opening goal of the game, Marc Guehi slipped which allowed Josh Windass to race goalwards before unleashing a shot, but Bennett saved the day with a vital lastditch block in the centre of his own box.
It was a clear sign that Wednesday were still up for the fight, although the Swans wanted a penalty just before the hour mark when Naughton went down right on the edge of the box, although referee Matthew Donohue refused to point to the spot.
When Cooper’s troops lifted the tempo, it looked as though they’d be able to see out the game, although their sloppiness gave the hosts hope.
Moore made a double substitution on 64 minutes as Izzy Brown and former Cardiff City man Callum Paterson were sent on as the Owls desperately went in search of an equaliser.
However, they should have fallen two goals behind within a minute of making those changes when Grimes nodded on to Ayew in the box but Westwood brilliantly denied the Ghanaian from close range.
Roberts replaced Routledge with just under 20 minutes left on the clock as space started to open up for Swansea in the Wednesday half.
The Welshman made an instant impact when he latched on to Lowe’s pass before crossing from the left flank for Fulton to head home his third goal of the campaign from close range.
That second goal knocked the stuffing out of the home side, and Cooper sent on Korey Smith and Jake Bidwell for Hourihane and Manning respectively to see out the game.
And the side did hold on to keep their 20th Championship clean sheet of the season to register back-to-back victories while opening up a nine-point advantage over seventh-placed Reading with just five games left to play ahead of Saturday’s contest with Wycombe Wanderers at the Liberty Stadium.
Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood; Hutchinson, Lees, Börner (Green 76); Palmer, Bannan (capt), Pelupessy, Shaw (Brown 64), Reach; Windass, Rhodes (Paterson 64). Subs not used: Wildsmith, Urhoghide, Penney, Hunt, Harris, Kachunga.
Swansea City: Woodman; Naughton, Bennett, Guehi, Manning (Bidwell 75); Grimes (capt), Fulton, Hourihane (Smith 79); Lowe, Ayew, Routledge (Roberts 73). Subs not used: Hamer, Freeman, Latibeaudiere, Dhanda, O Cooper, Whittaker.
Yellow card: Roberts 76.