Championship
SwanseaSwansea City2Sheff WedSheffield Wednesday1

Swansea City 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday: Bersant Celina sparks Swansea comeback against Owls

By Dafydd PritchardBBC Sport Wales at the Liberty Stadium
Swansea winger Wayne Routledge is challenegd by Jordan Thorniley of Sheffield Wednesday
Swansea winger Wayne Routledge scored the winner against Sheffield Wednesday

Bersant Celina came off the bench to score one goal and create another as Swansea City fought back in dramatic fashion to beat Sheffield Wednesday.

Swansea trailed after substitute Marco Matias seized on sloppy defending.

But five minutes after his introduction, Celina equalised with a neat, first-time effort.

And just a minute later, Celina lofted a delightful pass to Wayne Routledge, who scampered clear to finish between goalkeeper Cameron Dawson's legs.

The goal capped a thrilling few minutes and gave Swansea a second successive win to lift them to ninth in the Championship table, four points adrift of the play-off places.

Wednesday, however, slip down to 18th and a seventh defeat from 10 matches will increase the pressure on their manager Jos Luhukay.

Owls supporters demanded his sacking after last weekend's draw at home to Rotherham, and those calls intensified from the travelling fans at the Liberty Stadium following Routledge's winner.

Their frustration was clear after watching their side come close to snatching an improbable victory, though Swansea were worthy winners.

Graham Potter's side controlled the encounter, defying torrential rain and howling winds to create several chances.

Their intricate passing created two particularly promising early openings for Routledge, but the winger pulled one effort wide and tamely rolled another straight at Dawson.

Wednesday were starved of possession for long periods but, on the rare occasions they had it, they looked short of confidence.

They at least offered a fleeting threat - Lucas Joao dragging a low shot wide - but they spent much of the game defending.

Wednesday were organised and disciplined in that respect - unlike Swansea, with a mix-up among their defenders allowing Matias to put the visitors ahead with a powerful strike.

That came against the run of play and sparked joyous celebrations in the away end, but that soon turned to despair once again as Celina came on to turn the game on its head with his inspired late appearance.

Swansea City manager Graham Potter said:

"It's fantastic for the players and the supporters. It was a pretty awful afternoon in terms of weather. The support was great for us. They stuck with us and helped us.

"Overall, in that type of afternoon there's going to be a couple of mistakes. Maybe there was a little bit of that in the first goal and it got nervy for a few minutes but I thought overall we deserved the victory.

"It was great for Bersant [Celina] to come on and score and turn the game around for us. As a team, it shows there's a mentality to recover from setbacks, recover from mistakes.

"In the end, I'm really proud of the players' effort, togetherness and character, and also really proud of the supporters because it was an awful day but they were fantastic."

Sheffield Wednesday manager Jos Luhukay said:

"It's very hard to take, it is totally frustrating to give away a 1-0 lead in a couple of minutes.

"We didn't defend down our left side twice and that is not acceptable, you have to run with your opponent, I have tried to coach this three or four times but it is not going in their heads.

"I am so angry because the players are showing no proof of what we are doing. It is not the first time we give a 1-0 lead away for the opponents to score two goals.

"My words won't come out properly because I am so angry with what happened. Maybe the players can give the answers."

Asked about his future and fans calling for him to be sacked, Luhukay said: "I have answered the question on my future 20 times in recent weeks and I'm still here."

Line-ups

Swansea

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 25Mulder
  • 23Roberts
  • 5van der HoornSubstituted forCarter-Vickersat 45'minutes
  • 22Rodon
  • 26NaughtonSubstituted forCelinaat 65'minutes
  • 8Fer
  • 21Grimes
  • 15Routledge
  • 19McKay
  • 12DyerSubstituted forMonteroat 63'minutes
  • 9McBurnie

Substitutes

  • 1Nordfeldt
  • 7Montero
  • 10Celina
  • 16Asoro
  • 17Carter-Vickers
  • 24John
  • 27Fulton

Sheff Wed

Formation 3-4-2-1

  • 25Dawson
  • 15Lees
  • 36Pudil
  • 12ThornileyBooked at 12mins
  • 24BakerBooked at 33mins
  • 8Pelupessy
  • 7OnomahSubstituted forMatiasat 45'minutes
  • 6FoxSubstituted forFletcherat 79'minutes
  • 20Reach
  • 18Lucas João
  • 17Nuhiu

Substitutes

  • 2Palmer
  • 3Jones
  • 4van Aken
  • 9Fletcher
  • 19Matias
  • 28Wildsmith
  • 34Hector
Referee:
David Webb
Attendance:
18,692

Match Stats

Home TeamSwanseaAway TeamSheff Wed
Possession
Home63%
Away37%
Shots
Home12
Away12
Shots on Target
Home4
Away2
Corners
Home7
Away8
Fouls
Home6
Away13

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Swansea City 2, Sheffield Wednesday 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Swansea City 2, Sheffield Wednesday 1.

  3. Post update

    Corner, Sheffield Wednesday. Conceded by Leroy Fer.

  4. Post update

    Corner, Sheffield Wednesday. Conceded by Matt Grimes.

  5. Post update

    Attempt missed. Steven Fletcher (Sheffield Wednesday) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Joey Pelupessy with a cross following a corner.

  6. Post update

    Corner, Sheffield Wednesday. Conceded by Erwin Mulder.

  7. Post update

    Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Ashley Baker.

  8. Post update

    Foul by Leroy Fer (Swansea City).

  9. Post update

    Adam Reach (Sheffield Wednesday) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  10. Post update

    Joe Rodon (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  11. Post update

    Foul by Atdhe Nuhiu (Sheffield Wednesday).

  12. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Jordan Thorniley (Sheffield Wednesday) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Joey Pelupessy with a cross.

  13. Post update

    Corner, Sheffield Wednesday. Conceded by Joe Rodon.

  14. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Lucas João (Sheffield Wednesday) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Joey Pelupessy.

  15. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Joe Rodon (Swansea City) header from very close range is blocked.

  16. Post update

    Oliver McBurnie (Swansea City) hits the bar with a header from the centre of the box. Assisted by Barrie McKay with a cross following a corner.

  17. Post update

    Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Ashley Baker.

  18. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Jefferson Montero (Swansea City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Oliver McBurnie.

  19. Substitution

    Substitution, Sheffield Wednesday. Steven Fletcher replaces Morgan Fox.

  20. Post update

    Delay over. They are ready to continue.

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Leeds22136336181845
2Norwich22135440261444
3West Brom22116546311539
4Sheff Utd2211473526937
5Derby2111463124737
6Middlesbrough229942416836
7Nottm Forest21810332221034
8Aston Villa228954334933
9Swansea229582724332
10Birmingham2271053227531
11Stoke2271052927231
12Blackburn2271052933-431
13QPR229492732-531
14Bristol City228682726130
15Preston227783537-228
16Wigan2274112330-725
17Hull2266102330-724
18Sheff Wed2266102840-1224
19Brentford2257103334-122
20Rotherham2241082233-1122
21Reading2247112735-819
22Millwall2247112838-1019
23Bolton2246121530-1518
24Ipswich2228121837-1914
View full Championship table

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