Swansea survived a tense finale against Histon to book an FA Cup fourth round clash away to Portsmouth.
Non-league side see cup dreams ended
Swansea survived a tense finale against non-league Histon to book an FA Cup fourth round clash away to holders Portsmouth.
Guillem Bauza and Gorka Pintado both found the net before the interval before the latter missed a late penalty for Roberto Martinez's men.
Histon then pulled one back through Josh Simpson, but the Championship side held firm against some late pressure from the home side.
The home side had begun positively and Mat Mitchell-King unleashed a fierce volley from the left edge of the penalty area which flew over Dorus De Vries' crossbar in the third minute.
Swansea contrived to create a good chance in the 11th minute when Albert Serran picked out the head of Bauza with a dangerous cross but despite fumbling at the first attempt Histon goalkeeper Danny Naisbitt was able to gather the ball.
Antonio Murray struck a speculative effort at goal which De Vries caught comfortably a minute later, but the Histon midfielder worked the Swansea goalkeeper in the 18th minute with an attempt from a similar range which was parried to safety.
Swansea striker Bauza saw a shot from inside the penalty area saved in the 20th minute but the Histon rearguard was breached two minutes later when he set up compatriot Pintado.
Bauza cushioned a header from the left into the path of Pintado on the right edge of the box and the Basque forward exquisitely curled a shot past Naisbitt and into the top-right corner of the net.
Dominate
The Coca-Cola Championship side proceeded to dominate the remainder of the half and doubled their advantage in the 38th minute after clever play by Andrea Orlandi down the right flank set up Bauza, who stroked the ball home into the bottom-left corner of the net.
Roberto Martinez opted for a defensive counter-attacking approach after the interval and Histon's frustrations began to show as Patrick Ada was booked for a foul on Bauza.
The Stutes came close to pulling a goal back in the 65th minute when Nathaniel Knight-Percival created a shooting opportunity but could only direct his shot straight at De Vries from close range.
Swansea were given a chance to put the game to bed in the 82nd minute when Naisbitt brought down Nathan Dyer inside the penalty area but Pintado blazed the resulting spot-kick wide.
Steve Fallon's side eventually got the reward for their pressure and reduced the arrears through midfielder Simpson in the 84th minute to set up a nervous finale.
Mitchell-King directed his header back across goal and Simpson stole a yard in front of his marker inside the six-yard box and smashed the ball past De Vries.
Buoyed by a vocal home support Histon pressed for a dramatic equaliser in the remaining minutes but, despite a late Murray free-kick, they were unable to level as the Swans held on to earn a trip to Fratton Park to face Portsmouth in round four.
| Histon |
Team Statistics |
Swansea City |
| 1 |
Goals |
2 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
2 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 6 |
Shots off Target |
10 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 4 |
Corners |
3 |
| 18 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
|
