Swansea City beat Bradford 5-0 to win Capital One Cup
SWANSEA City won their first ever major trophy in dazzling style as they overwhelmed Bradford to clinch the Capital One Cup with a 5-0 triumph at Wembley.
Two goals from Nathan Dyer and Jonathan de Guzman, as well as one from Michu, gave Michael Laudrup's men a handsome victory over their League Two opponents, whose misery was compounded by a red card for their goalkeeper Matt Duke.
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Michael Laudrup's Swansea side turned on the style to win the club's first ever major cup
That second-half dismissal had little bearing on the outcome, however, as Swansea had by that point already built an unassailable 3-0 lead with a characteristically classy performance.
It was a somewhat cruel end to Bradford's romantic cup run, though their fans sang with gusto in the closing stages as both sets of supporters soaked up the stirring atmosphere of a rare appearance in a leading final.
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For so long the preserve of Premier League royalty since its reopening in 2007, Wembley threw its doors open to two clubs who have contested more administrations and bankruptcies than they have cup finals.
Swansea, now an established top-flight side, assumed the role of favourites against their fourth-tier opponents but this was not a prototypical David and Goliath clash.
As Laudrup succinctly put it in his pre-match press conference, this was a match between the underdog and the under-under-underdog.
Laudrup chose the ultimate occasion to make one of the boldest selections of his Swansea reign, naming the midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng at centre-back.
With Chico Flores unavailable, the Swans had been expected to turn to Kyle Bartley or club captain Garry Monk to deputise.
But Laudrup opted for Ki as he sought to dominate possession and suffocate Bradford – a tactic which looked like working as Swansea completed the first minute of the match without allowing their League Two opponents a single touch of the ball.
As expected, the gulf in technical ability between the sides was vast, but it was from a rapid counter-attack that Swansea opened the scoring.
Bradford launched the ball long and speculatively towards the Swans' box, but it fell to Jonathan de Guzman who passed to Wayne Routledge.
Routledge then surged into the Bradford half and fed Michu. The Spaniard's low shot was palmed away by Bradford goalkeeper Matt Duke but only as far as Nathan Dyer, who slid in on the rebound to spark pandemonium in the Swansea end.
The 16th-minute opener seemed to banish any nerves the Swans might have felt in their role as overwhelming favourites, while it punctured Bradford's hopes of causing yet another upset.
For long periods, Laudrup's men seemed content to keep the ball without over-exerting themselves, but they sprung back into life shortly before half time.
Pablo Hernandez found Michu with a delightful pass through the legs of Bradford captain Gary Jones, and Michu then produced a nutmeg of his own as he curled the ball between Carl McHugh's feet and into the bottom corner.
Even with a 2-0 lead at half time, Swansea looked capable of upping the ante, and so they did two minutes after the restart when Dyer got his second with a thumping left-footed finish.
Bradford's impossible task then grew even taller when Duke was sent off for tripping de Guzman as the Dutchman bore down on goal following a mesmerising Swansea move.
Desperate to complete his hat-trick, Dyer pleaded with de Guzman to take the resultant penalty but, to the winger's visible displeasure, de Guzman ignored his claims and despatched his spot-kick superbly into the bottom corner.
The rest of the match was a procession for Swansea, who had the luxury of being able to bring on club captain Garry Monk for a popular cameo.
With victory long secured, de Guzman then finished smartly to make it 5-0 in injury time and ensure that Swansea won their first ever major cup with a flourish.
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by MKBCFC
Monday, February 25 2013, 3:10PM
“Well done Swansea!
You're pass & move style reminded me of Liverpool in the 80's yesterday, we couldnt get near you. We were disappointed that we didnt manage to get a few tackles in and let you know we were there, but your teams ability on the ball made this very hard.
It's a just reward for all the supporters who watched lower league football for many years, (I recall watching Steve Torpey playing for you against us at the Vetch many years ago) and how you have come such a long way. As disappointed as I am, its nice to see another team show that success can be earned in a world where the odds and money are stacked in the big 5 or so clubs favour. And in Laudrup, you seem to have found a genuinely decent bloke who speaks sense, unlike some others at that level!
Hopefully one day we can meet again on a home and away basis in the top flight, although I ain't holding my breath on that at the moment.
Many congratulations Swansea, you are our inspiration and should become the blueprint of how to create a sustainable club.”
by chelsea1955
Monday, February 25 2013, 2:19PM
“Benny don't know what you were doing in West London, we were watching the Swans in North London but then again it was just as good there as it must have been where you were, as long as you enjoyed”
by bennyhill4
Monday, February 25 2013, 10:42AM
“What a great day it was in west london yesterday. I would just like to pay tribute to the fantastic swans supporters, and also to the bradford supporters who were also magnificent. there is not many clubs supporters who would still be cheering and waving their flags so enthusiastically when 5-0 down. They were outclassed on the playing field but showed plenty of class on the terraces”
by Hadoken857463
Monday, February 25 2013, 12:39AM
“Cresswell1, Man Utd (along with most of the other top 4 clubs) are tens if not 100's of millions of pound in debt and are the ultimate cling on team every hanger in the world supports, so is does not surprise me someone like yourself does.
Swansea are a small well run team making big profits, any fool can build a championship winning team with 250 - 300 million worth of players if they want to manage the debt.
The bottom line is, based on cost/performance, swansea blow everyone else away.
And we are just getting warmed up.
What sort of team do you reckon fergie would put together on less than 35 million??
My guess is not a very good one, so the next time you are talking nonsense about you won, don't forget to tell the world how many hundreds of millions you paid to win it.
P.S.
I do not belive you are a united fan, I believe you are cardiff, why would you bother hanging around on these forums, just to try and bother a side lower than you?
Face it, you are nothing more than a cardiff fan trying to hide behind utd, I can smell your lies a mile off.”
by cresswell1
Sunday, February 24 2013, 10:16PM
“oh i forgot its only a micky mouse cup, so dont get carried away. title 20 coming up utd for ever”
by chelsea1955
Sunday, February 24 2013, 10:13PM
“Boro1987, thank you for your comments, must admit we were very lucky to beat you at Liberty and cannot believe you are not top of the championship the way you played that night, I paid a tout £150 for a ticket worth every penny”
by cresswell1
Sunday, February 24 2013, 10:13PM
“credit where credit is due well played Swansea, shame about your player not letting Dyer take the penalty.”
by boro1987
Sunday, February 24 2013, 9:25PM
“Congratulations from a middlesbrough fan
I said after you beat us in the quarter final that I wanted you to win the trophy and it is fantastic that you have managed it. Your club has came leaps and bounds in the last 10 years i read that you nearly went of the football league at the end of 2002/03 and it refreshing to see a club like swansea win a cup on dedication and merit rather than man city or chelsea practicly buying the trophy every year .looking back It is a similar occurrence to our win in 2004 and believe me there's good days ahead we had some great European nights at the riverside against the likes of Roma and lazio and I will never forget the nights against steua bucherest and basle and of course the final against Sevilla. I hope that the liberty can produce the same if not better
You play football the right way and that's great credit to you and your football club if you can use your European status and buy a top quality player or two to add further to your ranks then I believe that you will be a real dark horse in the premiership next season
Yet and again congratulations on your cup success and good luck for the future hopefully we'll be playing you in the premiership soon”
by cimlagirl197
Sunday, February 24 2013, 9:03PM
“Fantastic achievement - would have loved to have been in one of the empty seats in the middle tier (corporate hangers on!)
Well done boys!”
by chelsea1955
Sunday, February 24 2013, 8:04PM
“MADE WALES PROUD, WORTH EVERY PENNY I PAID A TOUT £150 FOR A TICKET, THE TOUT ASKED ME TO SAY THANKS TO THE SWANSEA BOARD "MADE £2,000 ON THE TICKETS AND HOPES WE REACH ANOTHER FINAL SOON AND SELL TICKETS SAME WAY"”