Report | Queens Park Rangers 5 Swansea City 1
Swansea City crashed out of the Emirates FA Cup at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium as they were well beaten by Queens Park Rangers.
Having found themselves 3-0 down at the break, there was no way back for a much-changed Swans side despite a brief lifeline through a second-half George Byers goal.
In the end it was goals from Bright Osayi-Samuel, Lee Wallace, Josh Scowen and a James Hugill double that earned QPR their place in the fourth-round draw.
The Swans had reached the quarter-finals in each of the last two season, but there will be no repeat this term.
Swans boss Steve Cooper made 10 changes from the side that beat Charlton 1-0 at the Liberty last time out.
Brandon Cooper made his second senior appearance at centre-half alongside Jake Bidwell who switched from left-back.
There were also starts for Declan John, Barrie McKay, Kristoffer Petersen, Aldo Kalulu and goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt.
Connor Roberts was the only player to retain his place with Nathan Dyer captaining the side.
QPR made six changes from their thumping 6-1 win over Cardiff City.
Captain Wallace, Geoff Cameron, Dominic Ball, Ilias Chair and Osayi-Samuel were the men to keep their places.
Liam Kelly, Todd Kane, Marc Pugh, Josh Scowen, Jordan Hugill and Conor Masterson came into the starting line-up.
Both sides took part in the FA’s Heads Up campaign to raise awareness of mental health before kick-off, together with a minute’s appreciation for former QPR and Cardiff player Chris Barker who sadly passed away recently at the age of 39.
The game started off in a lively fashion with QPR forcing two early corners in quick succession before a superb ball from Brandon Cooper found Peterson on the left flank. The winger cut inside before firing a 20-yard shot which skimmed the QPR crossbar with six minutes gone.
Captain for the day Nathan Dyer combined well with the busy Kalulu, who was playing in the centre forward role, five minutes later, but Dyer saw his shot blocked at the expense of a corner.
Jay Fulton fired into the side netting from a quick throw-in, but it was the home side, looking dangerous going forward, who took the lead in the 21st minute.
Josh Scowen delivered a deep cross into the box where Hugill was waiting to chest the ball down under pressure from Connor Roberts and fire beyond Nordfeldt.
Ilias Chair came close to increasing the lead minutes later with a fierce shot that flew just wide of the far post as the Swans were struggling to contain QPR down the flanks.
And QPR’s second arrived in the 29th minute when a dreadful mistake from Bidwell saw him lose the ball trying to play out from the back and Osayi-Samuel was left with a simple finish.
Nordfeldt did well to deny Osayi-Samuel a second in the 37th minute with a fine near post save.
There was no denying QPR their third though in the 45th minute when Chair’s free-kick picked out Hugill at the far post and the striker slid in for his second of the game to end a difficult first half.
With neither side making any changes at the restart, the Swans looked to get themselves back in the game when McKay combined well with Roberts whose deflected cross just eluded the oncoming Petersen six yards out.
The Swans made a triple change in the 58th minute when Byers, Borja and Bersant Celina replaced Dyer, McKay and Petersen.
And it had an immediate effect as Byers created space on the edge of the area and fired a low shot into the bottom corner beyond Liam Kelly to make it 3-1 on the hour.
It gave the Swans hope as QPR’s Osayi-Samuel had a close penalty appeal turned down following a challenge from Bidwell, while the visitors had their own penalty shout for handball waved away at the other end.
QPR were soon back in their stride though as Nordfeldt pulled off two good saves from substitute Olamide Shodipo and Hugill with 70 minutes on the clock.
The game was over for the Swans though when QPR struck their fourth in the 76th minute. Swansea failed to clear their lines on the edge of the area and Lee Wallace drilled home a fine finish from 20 yards out.
Byers nearly pulled back another consolation effort three minutes from normal time with a deflected shot that struck the post, but the home side had the last say when Scowen fired a superb strike into the top corner in injury time.
Queens Park Rangers: Liam Kelly, Todd Kane, Geoff Cameron (Joe Gubbins 90), Conor Masterson, Lee Wallace (captain); Josh Scowen, Dominic Ball; Bright Osayi-Samuel (Olamide Shodipo 70), Ilias Chair (Deshane Dalling 80), Marc Pugh; Jordan Hugill.
Subs (not used): Grant Hall, Matt Smith, Nahki Wells, Dillon Barnes.
Swansea City: Kristoffer Nordfeldt; Connor Roberts, Brandon Cooper, Jake Bidwell, Declan John; Jay Fulton, Tom Carroll; Nathan Dyer (capt, repl Bersant Celina 60), Barrie McKay (George Byers 60), Kristoffer Peterson (Borja Baston 60); Aldo Kalulu.
Subs (not used): Erwin Mulder, Ben Cabango, Kyle Naughton, Yan Dhanda.
Ref: Stephen Martin
Att: 6,712 (870 away)
