Report | Swansea City 3 Crawley Town 1

Swansea City booked their place in the second round of the Carabao Cup as Ronald,  Bobby Wales and Ethan Galbraith got the goals in victory over Crawley Town at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Ronald opened the scoring early on for the Swans as he turned in a cross at the far post, and the home side could easily have been out of sight by the interval had they taken their chances.

But they did double their lead when Wales opened his Swansea account with a smart finish with 22 minutes remaining.

Kabongo Tshimanga pulled a goal back for the visitors, who had Gavin Holohan dismissed late on, but it is the Swans who will be in Wednesday’s draw after Galbraith vollyed home the clincher in stoppage time.

While head coach Alan Sheehan will be frustrated his side spurned so many excellent scoring opportunities, there were encouraging full debuts for Kaelan Casey and Zeidane Inoussa, with the winger’s link up with Josh Tymon causing countless problems for the visitors.

The Swans showed seven changes from the weekend defeat at Middlesbrough. Melker Widell, Casey and Inoussa were handed full debuts, while Andy Fisher, Sam Parker, Ollie Cooper and Zan Vipotnik also came into the side.

The hosts could not have wished for a better start, as they led inside three minutes.

Inoussa surged forward with purpose and found Josh Tymon in support. The full-back’s cross was on the money and Ronald arrived to steer a shot into the net via the inside of the far post.

Inoussa sent an effort wide after Galbraith had purposefully taken play up the pitch for the hosts before the Swans spurned a great chance to double their lead when Vipotnik could not connect with Ronald’s inviting cross along the six-yard box.

Inoussa was denied by a terrific block from Charlie Barker just before the 20-minute mark, after a deflected cross had ran through to the Swansea winger.

Swansea remained in control as half-time neared and Galbraith thought he had doubled their lead when he arrowed a low strike into the net, but Vipotnik was adjudged to have been offside and in the keeper’s line of sight as the ball flew past him.

Seconds later Parker forced Harvey Davies into a good low stop with an angle drive, before Ronald contrived to miss from point-blank range after excellent play by Tymon and Inoussa down the left.

That meant the Swans remained just the goal to the good at the interval despite their dominance.

They picked up where they left off after the break, Inoussa and Tymon again combining to great effect, with the latter’s cross just being out of reach for Vipotnik and Ronald.

Crawley had offered little in attack, but had a chance when Ade Adeyemo’s inviting cross was narrowly too far ahead of a sliding Tshimanga.

Swansea responded with a rapid break through Ronald and Inoussa, but the winger’s final effort was diverted wide by a brilliant challenge from Adeyemo.

Cooper was denied by a fine save from Davies, after Parker had driven infield to find the midfielder’s run.

But Swansea did add their second when substitute Wales pounced on a loose ball after Widell had made a nuisance of himself, and sent a low shot across goal and into the far corner of the net.

Tshimanga soon pulled a goal back from close range for Crawley, but the Swans sealed the win and a place in the next round - with the visitors playing the final stages with 10 men after Holohan saw red for a late challenge on Goncalo Franco - as Galbraith smarly volleyed home in added time.

Swansea City: Andy Fisher; Sam Parker, Kaelan Casey (Arthur Parker 78), Cameron Burgess (captain), Josh Tymon; Ethan Galbraith, Melker Widell (Goncalo Franco 79), Ollie Cooper; Ronald (Cameron Congreve 74), Zeidane Inoussa (Jisung Eom 64), Zan Vipotnik (Bobby Wales 64).

Unused Substitutes: Paul Farman, Josh Key, Jay Fulton, Liam Cullen.

Crawley Town: Harvey Davies, Charlie Barker, Max Anderson, Kabongo Tshimanga, Reece Brown (Louie Watson 61), Jack Roles (Gavin Holohan 61), Harry McKirdy (Louis Flower 62), Joy Mukena, Ade Adeyemo, Jay Williams (captain) (Antony Papadopoulos 73), Josh Flint.

Unused Substitutes: Will Heater, Ben Radcliffe, Fate Kotey.

Referee: Benjamin Speedie

Attendance: 5,095