Bristol City progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup as Sam Bale’s extra-time goal secured a 2-1 replay victory over Swansea City.
Mark Sykes set up the extra 30 minutes to put Bristol City ahead only for Ollie Cooper to score with his first touch.
Swansea had chances to win, but it was Academy product Bale’s night.
The 20-year-old ran in from halfway to score a memorable first senior goal for his hometown club.
Bale’s interception secured a second successive win for Bristol City, who are coming off just one win in 12 matches in all competitions.
Swansea had lost just once in four games before that – against Championship leaders Burnley – but saw any hope of a cup run disappear as they failed to take their chances.
While the Welsh club’s focus for the rest of the season will be a play-off push, the Robins are looking forward to a home cup tie against West Bromwich Albion later this month.
Swansea were left rueing their failure to win that tie at Ashton Gate nine days ago and dominated the first half, although Antoine Semino deserved a Joel Piro goal to set up a replay. was cancelled.
While Russell Martin made seven changes for a game he felt Swansea could have done without, Nigel Pearson kept faith with the Bristol City side that opened in the league last weekend – And finally he was rewarded.
It was hard to tell which boss had changed his pack in a first half where chances were plentiful.
Oliver Anticham had a shot on target, a 20-yard drive that was collected by Max O’Leary, although the Bristol City goalkeeper reacted quickly to block his own goal as Zach Weiner cut into his own net. .
The visitors had their first chance when the ball rolled to Seminyio early in the second half – only for the Ghana international to slash wide.
Swansea responded, Joel Latibeaudiere forcing a wide save from O’Leary before Piroe was shot in the face.
The hosts were applying real pressure for the first time when Bristol City took the lead, with Joe Williams winning possession and feeding fellow substitute Bale.
He threaded a pass to Sykes, who got the ball well past Swansea goalkeeper Andy Fisher to score his third goal in two games.
Suddenly the game opened up, Williams sneaking well into the arms of Fisher before Swansea equalized when Matt Grimes’ cross reached the far post and Cooper, who was on the pitch for seconds, made the simple task of side-footing it. Abandoned. Net
Swansea came close in added time through Luke Kendall’s wasteful header and a Ryan Manning volley that was pushed over by O’Leary.
Then came Bale’s big moment, his pace taking him away from Ben Kibango before he cut inside and fired high into the net.
Swansea City Head Coach Russell Martin:
“I’m really disappointed we didn’t win it. I think that’s the kind of answer I’ve given you so many times. We need more in the final third. Until they scored, they had very little.
“I was very happy with the performance. We made seven changes, the game didn’t look any different, we were very dominant.
“We needed to show more to dominate. We give away a poor goal in the middle of the pitch. Their game plan probably works too well, Nigel [Pearson] would say.
“I’m very happy with the players, they gave everything, they dominated for so long, but we need to make the most of it because we only score one goal from the amount of entries in the box.”
Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson:
“I’m happy for us to go through to the next round. It was a tough game – we knew it was going to be. We went in with an unchanged side and we knew we had to make changes during the game. .
“It was a super goal to win it, a great finish. We just hoped he would get the chance.
“I thought all the substitutions had an impact on the game. They certainly created some chances, Max [O’Leary] made some good saves, but we always felt we were going to get some chances and then this is See if you can take advantage of them
“It was a fantastic way to win the game, to be honest.”
