Report | Swansea City 6 Cambridge United 0

28th August
First team
Sam Surridge

Swansea City went goal crazy to book their place in the third round of the Carabao Cup with a thumping win over Cambridge United at the Liberty Stadium.

A brace from Sam Surridge, plus strikes from Kristoffer Peterson, George Byers, Jordon Garrick and Wayne Routledge saw off the spirited League Two side in a one-sided contest.

It earned the Swans their biggest victory in the League Cup since they won the competition at Wembley back in 2013 with a 5-0 win over Bradford City.

 Swans head coach Steve Cooper made 11 changes from the weekend win over Birmingham, with nine of the side having started against Northampton in the last round.

The two changes were the return of Tom Carroll - making his first Swansea appearance in 10 months after injury troubles - and Garrick, who made his first start for the Swans.

Cambridge boss Colin Calderwood made seven changes himself with the League Two side arriving on the back of an excellent first-round victory over Brentford.

He soon found his side behind in quick-fire style after the Swans stormed into an early lead after just 47 seconds.

Kristoffer Peterson

Garrick went past his man with ease down the right and when his cross was initially blocked it fell perfectly for Peterson who slotted home a cool finish for his first goal for the club.

It was one-way traffic after that as the visitors were rocked back on their heels, falling further behind in the 20th minute.

Surridge showed his strength to send Declan John racing clear and when his initial cross was only half cleared, Byers was in the right place to fire home Swansea’s second of the evening.

Four minutes later and it was 3-0 when a great run from Peterson saw him pull the ball back from the byline and Surridge added the finishing touch from close range.

Cambridge showed plenty of character though and nearly pulled one back in the 29th minute when a neat pass from Harvey Knibbs found Jack Roles inside the area, but his powerful strike hit the Swansea cross bar with Kristoffer Nordfleldt beaten.

Jordon Garrick

Two minutes later though and Swansea struck again. Goalkeeper Callum Burton did well to deny Routledge after a neat turn, but Garrick was there to emphatically fire home his first Swansea goal.

Then right on the stroke of half-time Swansea made it 5-0 when Surridge beat Burton at his near post.

Swansea continued where they left off as Byers struck the bar from 25 yards before tempers flared and Reggie Lambe was booked for the visitors.

Cooper started to ring the changes with the Swans in control as Barrie McKay replaced Garrick and 17-year-old right-back Tivonge Rushesha came on for his senior debut for captain Kyle Naughton with 67 minutes gone.

Young Jack Evans also left the bench to make his debut in place of Carroll, who made an encouraging comeback following a lengthy spell out injured.

Tom Carroll

The changes didn’t disrupt the Swans’ momentum as they went 6-0 ahead in the 76th minute courtesy of Routledge, whose shot went through the legs of Burton.

The Cambridge keeper pulled off a fantastic save from McKay with five minutes remaining before Surridge headed inches wide in search of his hat-trick.

Peterson came close at the death to completing a magnificent seven, but at that stage it really didn’t matter.

Swansea City: Kristoffer Nordfeldt; Kyle Naughton (capt, repl Tivonge Rushesha 67), Ben Cabango, Ben Wilmot, Declan John; George Byers, Tom Carroll (Jack Evans 73); Jordon Garrick (Barrie McKay 62), Wayne Routledge, Kristoffer Peterson; Sam Surridge.

Subs (not used): Erwin Mulder, Brandon Cooper, Yan Dhanda, Liam Cullen.

Cambridge United: Callum Burton, Harry Darling, Louis John, Greg Taylor (captain, Luke Hannant 46), Leon Davies; Reggie Lambe, George Maris, Jack Roles, Harrison Dunk; Harvey Knibbs (Sam Smith 71), Andy Dallas (Tom Knowles 71).

Subs (not used): Dimitar Mitov, George Taft, Paul Lewis.

Ref: Mr Michael Salisbury

Att: 8,763