Vitor Matos | I cannot fault the effort of the players

Head coach Vitor Matos said he could not fault the efforts of his Swansea City team after seeing them exit the FA Cup on penalties against West Bromwich Albion.

There had been little sign of the drama to come after a goalless first half at the Swansea.com Stadium, but the Swans took the lead through a fine strike from Jisung Eom early in the second period, only for Josh Maja to quickly reply for the visitors.

With the score 1-1 after 90 minutes, West Brom took the lead in extra-time through Jed Wallace, before a well-worked goal from Zeidane Inoussa saw Swansea hit back.

The first 10 penalties of the shootout were scored before Bobby Wales and Malick Yalcouye were unable to convert for the Swans, while Chris Mepham also missed for the Baggies.

But Oliver Bostock kept his nerve to find the net and secure a 6-5 shootout victory and a place in the fourth round for the away side.

Swansea enjoyed the better of long spells of the contest, with the likes of Ronald, Melker Widell, Ethan Galbraith, Eom and Yalcouye all having chances.

Matos admitted there was a sense of frustration in the dressing room, but also made clear that the responsibility was a collective one rather than simply about the penalties missed in the shootout.

“We are frustrated of course, because it is always tough to go out on penalties,” said the Swans boss.

“We had chances, and when you have your chances you need to take them because football is a game of efficiency, and we did not close the game when we had the opportunities to do so.

“But one big thing I think we can take is the reaction we showed in the game, the boys were really showing character and willing to keep trying to get the game to go our way.

“We dominated most of the game, we had the better chances, but when it comes down to penalties this is sometimes how things can go. 

“We had the better moments before we scored, then we suffered to go back to 1-1 so soon. Then we go 2-1 down, but we fought to score again and then we had chances to go on and win the game.

“The effort the boys put in and the resilience we showed to come back was really good.

“We have lost, but when you lose on penalties it is not about anyone being guilty. We are together in every moment and that is no different now.”