Report | Swansea City 0 Sheffield Wednesday 1

Michael Smith’s goal was enough to condemn Swansea City to defeat against Sheffield Wednesday as the hosts were denied a stoppage-time equaliser at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Second-half substitute Smith finished smartly after the hosts had been guilty of conceding possession cheaply deep in their own half.

But the home side thought they had levelled when Jay Fulton arrived to finish from close range in the final of four minutes of time added on, but the offside flag soon brought celebrations to a stop.

In a game of few clear chances, a Myles Peart-Harris header was otherwise as close as the Swans came to a goal of their own, while Lawrence Vigouroux denied Smith a second shortly after the forward had netted what proved to be the winner.

The frustration for the hosts will be that - as had been the case in the reverse fixture in south Yorkshire - there was little to choose between the sides, but they ended up coming away with nothing when a point was well within their grasp.

The Swans had shown three changes from the win over Bristol City as Harry Darling, Fulton and Peart-Harris came into the starting line-up.

Wednesday made four alterations from defeat at West Bromwich Albion with Svante Ingelsson, Ike Ugbo, Callum Paterson and Marvin Johnson all starting.

The opening exchanges proved cagey but the first opening went the way of the visitors, with Darling required to make an excellent recovery tackle after Ugbo had got on the end of a long ball forward.

Swansea responded, and Ronald’s cross from the right had just too much on it for Peart-Harris to reach as he arrived in the centre of the area.

A driving run from Yan Valery then helped afford Josh Windass space just beyond the penalty spot in the Swansea box, but he dragged his shot wide on the turn.

Zan Vipotnik blazed over before Ronald was unable to pick out a white shirt after Peart-Harris’ deep cross had found the Brazilian arriving at the far post.

The Swans were given a let-off halfway through the first half when a loose pass allowed Ugbo to feed Windass, and the striker sent a low strike across goal and wide.

As had been the case in the reverse fixture at Hillsborough, the teams were rather cancelling each other out and half-time arrived without either keeper having had a save of note to make, even though a Ronald cross did have James Beadle scrambling as it bounced narrowly wide.

Swansea crafted the best move of the game so far early in the second half. Darling’s composure helped Jisung Eom, Fulton and Ronald combine. The latter whipped in an inviting cross that Peart-Harris met, but he could only steer his header straight at Beadle.

Peart-Harris then produced a lovely bit of skill to get away from his man down the left, but he hesitated when he got to the edge of the box, and his final ball to Tymon was delivered just as the wing-back had halted his supporting run.

Wednesday crafted a sweeping move of their own just past the hour mark, with Vigouroux hauling in a volley from Shea Charles at its conclusion.

But they did not waste their next chance as Swansea gave the ball away cheaply in their own third and Windass strode forward and squared for Smith to slot a low shot into the back of the net.

Vigouroux made a fine stop a few minutes later to deny Smith a second as the striker held off his marker at a corner to send a header goalwards from close range.

Substitute Sam Parker then drove the Swans upfield, but his low delivery was cut out by covering black shirts.

Fulton then had the ball in the net when he turned in Darling's knockdown in the final seconds, but the flag belatedly went up for offside and with it went Swansea's last chance to salvage a point.

Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux; Harry Darling, Ben Cabango (captain), Hannes Delcroix, Ronald (Sam Parker 74), Jay Fulton, Lewis O’Brien, Josh Tymon; Jisung Eom (Ollie Cooper 74), Myles Peart-Harris (Liam Cullen 63), Žan Vipotnik (Florian Bianchini 63).

Unused Substitutes: Jon McLaughlin, Josh Key, Gonçalo Franco, Cyrus Christie, Kyle Naughton.

Sheffield Wednesday: James Beadle, Max Lowe, Svante Ingelsson (Nathaniel Chalobah 88), Josh Windass (captain), Ike Ugbo (Michael Smith 58), Callum Paterson (Stuart Armstrong 58), Marvin Johnson, Michael Ihiekwe, Yan Valery, Djeidi Gassama (Ibrahim Cissoko 80), Shea Charles.

Unused Substitutes: Pierce Charles, Liam Palmer, Jamal Lowe, Pol Valentin, Gabriel Otegbayo.

Referee: Elliot Bell

Attendance: 14,149