Swansea City played hosts to Wolves as part of an FA Cup third round replay at the Liberty Stadium. Carlos Carvalhal made quite a number of changes for the clash to give a few of his first-team players some rest ahead of a hectic second half of the season. His gamble paid off as the Swans took an early lead in the match through Jordan Ayew’s 11th-minute goal.
The Wolves came back in the second half through Diogo Jota’s goal but conceded another goal, just three minutes later when the home team regained the lead courtesy of a Wilfried Bony strike. The Welsh club ran out 2-1 winners on the night to progress into the next round of the competition.
Let’s shed some light on how each Swansea City player fared on the night.
GK: Kristoffer Nordfeldt – 6/10
He did not have a save to make in the first half despite the Wolves attack creating some good chances in front of goal. The keeper was beaten by Diego Jota in the 66th minute but luckily for him, his team scored almost immediately to secure progression into the next round.
RB: Connor Roberts – 7/10
He was quite impressive for the home team during the match. The Welsh right-back defended well and joined in on the attacking third from time to time.
CB: Alfie Mawson – 7/10
He put in another strong performance at the heart of the Swans defence and was unlucky not to secure a clean sheet on the night.
CB: Federico Fernandez – 7/10
He kept Rafa Mir quiet on the first half and had a good game in defence for the home team.
LB: Kyle Naughton – 6/10
He made one key block to deny Bright Enobakhare in the first half. Overall, the 29-year-old put in a tireless shift at left-back for his team.
CM: Tom Carroll – 6/10
Not the best game from the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder. He was involved in a few mix-ups with his teammates but ultimately did enough to help his team win the tie.
CM: Roque Mesa – 6/10
He missed a good chance to add to Swansea’s lead in the first half. His performance faded as the match went on and was rightfully subbed in the second half.
RM: Luciano Narsingh – 7/10
He was lively during the game and won some free kicks in the opposition half.
CAM: Leroy Fer – 6/10
He got cautioned just after the break for a silly foul. The Dutch midfielder missed a great chance to seal the victory for the Swans in the final quarter of the game.
LM: Jordan Ayew – 8/10
He scored the crucial opening goal to give his team the confidence to go on and secure a victory.
ST: Wilfried Bony – 8/10
The big striker notched up the goal that eventually won the tie for the Swans.
Substitutes:
CM: Sung-Yueng Ki – 6/10
He came off the bench for the final quarter of the game and missed a great chance to seal the contest.
RM: Nathan Dyer – 7/10
The speedster came on and created some good chances for his teammates.
CM: Samuel Clucas – 6/10
He was subbed on to provide the Swans with some fresh legs in midfield and did enough to help his team see out the victory.
