World News – GB – Swansea City 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday: Ayew contest Puli’s maiden win

Swansea City came from behind and took a point when Andre Ayew denied Tony Pulis a first-ever win as Sheffield Wednesday manager.

The first half was a monument to the defensive structure Pulis quickly imposed, and Adam Reach used the first goal of his tenure to get them in the lead.

But the substitute Ayew was able to skillfully equalize Swansea in a significantly improved second half. Swansea remains fourth in the championship table and could only have won in the last minute if Kasey Palmer’s overhead goal had been eliminated.

Wednesday opened its stand from the start. With a bank of four and then five behind the ball, Pulis’ team was very structured, immensely disciplined, and very difficult to break.

This time around, they wouldn’t suffer the early red card setback after losing Josh Windass at Preston North End last weekend after losing goalkeeper Keiren Westwood to a groin injury.

After Swansea couldn’t find a way, visitors began keeping some possessions and making progress. Julian Borner had an early chance shot straight into the grateful arms of Freddie Woodman, but the goalkeeper could do nothing to prevent the first goal when Reach made a pristine near-post run around a corner from Barry Bannan to return home.

Despite all of their possessions, Steve Cooper’s team failed to record a shot by the first half – an attempt by Jamal Lowe blocked by Joost van Aken – and the head coach took action at break when Ayew called for his return from the game came a hamstring injury, along with Palmer, and a formation change from three to four. Both paid dividends.

Sheffield Wednesday was quickly given more food for thought as the hosts put more thrust and threat on the wings and Ayew rewarded that improvement with a goal on the hour. It was all about the footwork as he received the ball and teased one way or the other before moving resolutely into van Aken and rolling over to the bottom corner.

Yan Dhanda walked away twice when Swansea continued threatening, and Joe Wildsmith denied Ayew in added time. It was even more drama when a mammoth goal-throat fight broke out from a corner at the last minute, but the referee had already committed a foul when Palmer believed he had won the match with a spectacular overhead hit.

A cynic might notice it didn’t end goalless, but otherwise it was an achievement straight out of the Pulis playbook with organization to the fore and a solid point won on the road as a result.

While he seems to do it every time, it is still remarkable how quickly Pulis is able to bring a new side to his defensive methods and the way they frustrated Swansea in the first half was over extraordinary from this perspective.

Even the regime’s first target came out of the manager’s book, and a good old offset move paid off when Reach found an acre of space in the box to finish. However, this proved to be the highlight of the attack when the low-lying team left poor Jordan Rhodes alone in isolation.

It might have been enough to win, but conceding a goal continues to allude to them. After Westwood’s bad clearing blow cost them a point at Preston, the defense couldn’t get Ayew under control as he wriggled out of what was actually a dangerous position and rounded van Aken to scoring.

They may be in the play-off positions but Swansea is far from the finished article, especially in attack where they have only scored 15 goals in their 13 games so far this season.

The first half could be the worst so far this season as no shot was registered in the first 45 minutes. You were invited to break down a very disciplined team and, to put it simply, failed completely on the task.

The strikers, and young Liam Cullen in particular, couldn’t get on the ball at all as midfield saw no openings and it was only with a system change at halftime that they found some joy and stretch a defense that had been comfortable until then.

Things went far better in the second half when Ayew made a predictable contribution despite the need for more threats than just him. Palmer did well off the bench too, unlucky enough to not be the hero of the hour with Dhanda playing a major role, but it’s still a side that clearly lacks firepower.

The center-back didn’t go wrong all night as Wednesday weathered a storm in the second half to hold onto a hard-earned point.

Sheffield Wednesday F.. . C.. . , Swansea City A. . F.. . C.. . , Tony Pulis, EFL Championship, André Ayew, Sheffield, Steve Cooper