Wednesday were seconds away from a late comeback win after Morgan Fox’s injury time goal, but a last-gasp Ben Wilmot equaliser saw Swansea maintain their unbeaten away record at Hillsborough.
Wednesday dominated the early exchanges with Kadeem Harris and Jacob Murphy linking up well on the right-hand side. The latter went close four minutes in when his low driven shot was saved by Woodman after a well worked corner routine.
This domination continued as Wednesday kept the ball well and tested the Swans’ defence with a string of corners in the first 15 minutes. The last of these saw a double chance for Wednesday as Steven Fletcher saw his header saved by Woodman and the rebound was headed just over by Atdhe Nuhiu.
The game settled down slightly after a frantic opening period and Swansea gained a foothold in the game and threatened for the first time when Dominic Iorfa’s challenge on Nathan Dyer rebounded off his own player and forced Kieran Westwood to save.
However, moments later, the visitors took the lead against the run of play when Andre Ayew pounced on a loose ball in the box, after Westwood had fumbled a corner.
Ayew’s goal, from the Swans’ first shot, stunned Hillsborough into silence and the visitors duly grew into the game more with Bersant Celina firing just wide with a low shot shortly afterwards.
Despite being behind, if it weren’t for the scoreline, Gary Monk’s men would’ve been justified in feeling happy with their first half display.
Wednesday went close after the restart through Murphy but he was unable to find the target from Fletcher’s low cross. He again went close on the hour mark, hitting the inside of the post from point blank range.
However, the Swans’ improvement in the latter part of the first half was mirrored in the second period and despite consistent Wednesday pressure they remained dangerous on the counter-attack, utilising the pace of Dyer and Wayne Routledge on the flanks.
Additionally, Ben Wilmot came close to furthering the visitor’s lead, after hitting the post with a header following a corner. It began to look like Swansea might be able to see the game out.
Gary Monk had to look to his bench to change things up, as fan favourite Forrestieri replaced Nuhiu to a rapturous reception from the Wednesday faithful.
This changed paid dividends just 15 minutes later as Forrestieri equalised, converting from inside the six-yard box after Woodman had failed to gather a Adam Reach shot.
Wednesday then looked like they had won it in the first minute of injury time when Morgan Fox buried a volley into the roof of the net after Swansea failed to clear a corner.
Unfortunately for the home side, Swansea showed the fight that has left them unbeaten away from home this season as Wilmot squeezed the ball in at the far post on 94 minutes to secure a point on the road for the Swans.
On reflection a draw was probably a fair result, although Wednesday will be lamenting their inability to see the game out after taking the lead late on.
Post-match Gary Monk echoed this sentiment saying: “Game management is not something you can specifically coach. You can only speak to the players. I’ve been there myself and the key is when emotions are high you focus on what you’ve got to do”
The Swansea manager Steve Cooper was also happy with his times performance and praised their powers of recovery at the death: “It shows we will not give up. The mentality of the team is something we’re really proud of”
The draw leaves Swansea in 4th while Wednesday are 8th going into the international break.
Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood, Palmer, Lees, Iorfa, Fox, Murphy (Reach ‘76) Bannan, Lee, Harris (Rhodes ‘83), Fletcher, Nuhiu (Forrestieri ‘66). Unused Subs: Pelupessy , Thorniley , Odubajo , Dawson.
Swansea: Woodman, Naughton, Wilmot, Van der Hoorn, Bidwell, Byers, Grimes, Dyer (Roberts ‘77), Celina (Fulton ‘83), Routledge (Surridge ‘87), Ayew. Unused Subs: Nordfelt , Baston , Peterson , Cabango.
Referee: David Webb
Bookings: Sheffield Wednesday: Lee (69′)
Swansea: N/A
Scorers: Sheffield Wednesday: Fernando Forestieri (81′), Morgan Fox (90′)
Swansea: Andre Ayew (32′), Ben Wilmot (90′)
HT: 0 – 1
FT: 2 – 2
Attendance: 23,073
Man of the Match: Dominic Iorfa
Report: Late Swansea goal ensures points shared at Hillsborough
