Swansea City hold Chelsea to a draw to reach Capital One Cup Final
SWANSEA City strode into the Capital One Cup final after holding Chelsea to a 0-0 draw to win their semi-final 2-0 on aggregate.
Chances were at a premium during a tense encounter at the Liberty Stadium, but seldom has a goalless stalemate ever sparked such wild celebrations.
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Angel Rangel clears from Oscar at the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg match at the Liberty Stadium
This will be the Swans' first ever appearance at a major cup final and, with Bradford City waiting for them in the final, they will be favourites to lift the trophy.
Bradford's remarkable pilgrimage to Wembley made reaching the final all the more tantalising for these two sides.
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Although there is an irresistible romance in the way the Bantams have punched above their weight by toppling the likes of Arsenal and Aston Villa, Swansea and Chelsea will have been salivating at the prospect of taking on a fourth-tier side in the final.
Michael Laudrup's men must now grapple with the alien concept of being favourites, the Premier League cruiserweights hoping to trample over the dreams of their lowly opponents.
Theirs has also been a stirring journey to the final, though. Victories at Anfield and Stamford Bridge rank high among Swansea's greatest results, and a place in the final was also beyond their expectations at the start of this season.
This, after all, is a club that rummaged around the darkness of the bottom division when Bradford celebrated their top-flight survival in 2000.
While the sponsors may weep, neutrals and purists are bound to be relishing the prospect of a League Cup final without the usual suspects.
And, stoically, resolutely, Swansea secured their place for this showpiece.
There was a heart-stopping moment for Swansea after just seven minutes when Chelsea striker Demba Ba fell under a challenge from Ben Davies in the hosts' penalty area, but referee Chris Foy waved play on.
Swansea then created the best opportunity of the half as Leon Britton and Wayne Routledge combined deftly to release Michu, whose shot was saved well by Petr Cech.
After a lively opening quarter of an hour, the remainder of the first half was played at a steadier pace as both sides appeared to be stymied by the palpable tension.
Chelsea probed forward as they looked to reduce their aggregate deficit but, led by the heroic Ashley Williams, Swansea kept the game goalless at half time.
It was much the same after the restart, with Chelsea pressing the Swans but rarely troubling the hosts in earnest.
The game then took a bizarre twist as Chelsea's Eden Hazard was sent off for kicking a ball boy.
That incident rattled the bedraggled visitors and, although the European champions threw themselves forward desperately, Swansea held on.
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by Philosoraptor
Tuesday, February 19 2013, 9:47AM
“leighrichards, given your comments about me for simply explaining why we are representing the English FA in Europe next year... I can't believe you actually have the cheek comment so much on racism.
Please, close your account on this site and make more use of the account on WalesOnline like all the other embarrassing NeoNats. We don't want your type associated with our city and club.”
by dewgay
Saturday, January 26 2013, 11:14AM
“To BCFCOK. There's always one moron to spoil a nice club like your's. Good name though...., you got the COK bit right.”
by dewgay
Saturday, January 26 2013, 11:14AM
“To BCFCOK. There's always one moron to spoil a nice club like your's. Good name though...., you got the COK bit right.”
by Neathboy234
Thursday, January 24 2013, 11:02AM
“leighrichards i wouldn't say BCFCOK is typical, but the BNP have elected councilors in Bradford in the past. They do seem to be quite right wing up north”
by confused67
Thursday, January 24 2013, 10:46AM
“What a game I have seen so many ups and downs over the last 55yrs,I still can not believe we are going to Wembley.when we were down in the 4th division we used to dream about being in the top tier.Like many other supporters I have seen so many hopes dashed and I am so proud of our achievements. Standing on the North Bank in the late fifties in the old 2nd division down to the 4th division, back up, back down, back up, back down, back up to the old 1st division, back down . We are now here to stay and we will continue to surprise a lot of the doubters.”
by C.Lion
Thursday, January 24 2013, 9:48AM
“Better underdog story than the Dodgeball movie... I think the ballboy needed to know the 5 D's though!”
by morton1947
Thursday, January 24 2013, 9:41AM
“Congratulations to all at Swansea City from Michael Laudrup and his backroom Staff and the players on the noght and not least the fans who turned up to cheer them on despite the hazardous conditions . . Let's not let one incident spoil our delight at reaching the final even though you cannot condone actions of this nature by a Professional Football player no matter what the circumstances. I had to laugh when listening to the Radio on the way hoem when a couple of Chelsea fans stated that it was only "a two bot cup anyway" . .so that was the reason they came down playing their first choice team and also had around 2000 fans turn up to cheer them on. Come on CHelsea wake up and smell the coffee over the two legs you were beaten by the better side. Wembley, Wembley we're supporting swansea City and we're off to Wembley.”
by leighrichards
Thursday, January 24 2013, 9:06AM
“is the dose of racism from BFC typical of that club's supporters? i hope not.....er didnt a certain benito carbone save bradford city with an injection of cash? er isnt mr carbone from italy?.......hmm.....”
by RobertC
Thursday, January 24 2013, 7:44AM
“Swansea playing Chelsea? How many native Welsh or English are in their teams? You may see more if you were at an Italian league match.”
by ILoveMichu
Thursday, January 24 2013, 2:36AM
“Just booked my travel tickets, even though I not got a match day ticket yet, but I will queue on the first day of sale and should get one.
The travel would be way more expensive otherwise and make it much easier for me to justify watching it at the pub. Not this one!
Coach up for a tenner and a train back for 17, thank you very much!
I never got to see the swans get promotion, to see them get into europe on their 100 year anniversary would be about as good and as fairytale as it would ever get!
Well done all, some stunning footy tonight, I love it when we play like this, no stupid passes, or this and that, just solid the entire time, if we could do that every game we would get a top 5 team.”