Wolves under-23s suffered a huge slice of misfortune to lose their unbeaten record in the Premier League Cup after falling to a 2-0 defeat to Swansea City at Compton Park.
A Max Kilman own goal and an injury time winner from Oliver Cooper was enough to condemn Rob Edwards’ side to defeat, but the team have still qualified for the last 16 of the competition in spite of the result.
Wolves started the brighter of the two sides and had the first opportunity to take the lead within the first five minutes of the contest. Paulo Alves did wonderfully well to maintain possession as he took the ball around several Swansea players on the way towards goal.
However, the midfielder just couldn’t find the final finish the move required, with Alves firing wide from 25 yards out from goal.
In an end-to-end first half, Wolves had their next chance about ten minutes later when they were awarded a corner, but the cross into the box did not fall kindly to Austin Samuels, who was beaten to the ball by Swansea goalkeeper Gregor Zabret, diving at the feet of the Wolves striker.
Wolves had another opportunity to open the scoring when Enzo Sauvage forced a great save from Zabret after getting on the end of a Samuels cross. From the resulting corner, Kilman headed wide past the left post.
The home start started the second half as they did the first, with Samuels making a great run into the box and staying on his feet under pressure. However, the forward couldn't direct his low driving effort past Zabret.
It took a huge slice of luck for Swansea to take the lead just over 15 minutes into the second half. A dangerous Matthew Blake cross from the left was directed past Wolves keeper Andrea Sondergaard by Kilman as he attempted to clear the ball.
Despite falling behind, Wolves continued to press and look for an equaliser and they came close to getting their wish when Sauvage played in Samuels to the area, one-on-one with Zabret, however the Swansea keeper was able to get down low and smoother the shot.
As the game went into added time, Swansea doubled their lead as Cooper was able to get on the end of a Mason Jones-Thomas cross before firing his effort beneath Sondergaard.
COMING UP
The under-23s make a swift return to action on Friday night Rob Edwards’ side travel to Middlesbrough in Premier League 2 Division 2, where – if results go their way – the team can regain top spot in the league.
NEXT FIVE
1/3 Middlesbrough (A)
11/3 Southampton (H)
30/3 Newcastle (A)
8/4 Aston Villa (A)
15/4 Stoke City (H)
TEAMS
Wolves: Sondergaard, Thompson (Buur 70), Molberg, Kilman, Richards, Kitolano, Francis (Diallo 64), Heredia, Alves, Sauvage, Samuels (Taylor 82).
Unused subs: Beasley, He.
Swansea: Zabret, Rushesha, Blake, Williams, Cabango, Lewis, Price, King, Jones-Thomas, Cooper, Berry (Reid 79).
Unused subs: Shepperd, De Boer, Cooper, Dulca.
