Super Swans Into Round Four

Danny Graham scores twice to add to strikes from Angel Rangel and Nathan Dyer as the Swans overcome their Championship opponents at Oakwell

REPORT – EVENING POST

SWANSEA City advanced to the fourth round of the FA Cup as they overcame a dogged effort from Barnsley to beat the Championship side 4-2 at Oakwell.

The home team took the lead against the run of play through Ricardo Vaz Te’s first-half strike, but the Swans equalised within a minute courtesy of Angel Rangel’s tidy finish.

Danny Graham put the visitors ahead with a thunderous shot from 30 yards soon after the restart, before Nathan Dyer added a third after a swift attacking move.

Vaz Te then gave Barnsley a lifeline with his second goal and, despite a late rally from the Tykes, Swansea sealed victory with Graham’s late tap-in.

Brendan Rodgers opted to make just two changes from the side which beat Aston Villa 2-0 last weekend, with goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel coming in for Michel Vorm to make his debut and captain Garry Monk replacing the ineligible Steven Caulker at centre-back.

Although Swansea dominated possession in a quiet opening quarter, Barnsley broke the deadlock when Vaz Te’s shot from the edge of the area seemed to take a deflection of Monk before flying past Tremmel into the net.

The visitors replied within a minute, though, as Rangel pinched the ball from David Perkins before playing a neat one-two with Dyer and poking the ball past Luke Steele into the bottom corner.

A half-time score of 1-1 flattered the home side, and the game seemed there for the taking for a Swansea side who seemed to be playing within themselves.

If the Swans lacked a little intensity in the first half, their second period began with a bang.

Just a minute after the restart, Graham turned away smartly from his marker and unleashed an almighty strike from 30 yards which roared into the top corner.

The Swans then extended their lead as Wayne Routledge jinked his way into the home side’s penalty area and squared the ball for Dyer to calmly side-foot the ball in.

Barnsley hit back, however, as Danny Drinkwater’s free-kick found its way to Vaz Te, whose stooping header gave the 7,380 Oakwell crowd hope of a comeback.

Those aspirations were extinguished, however, as Routledge broke free on the right and crossed for Graham to slide in his second goal and Swansea’s fourth.