Bristol City 1-1 Swansea City: Late penalty earns point for Robins
- Published
Swansea's Marc Guehi tries an overhead kick as Taylor Moore watches on
Swansea City's unbeaten away run continued but they were left frustrated as Nahki Wells' contentious late penalty salvaged a point for Bristol City.
The Robins were heading for a second straight Championship defeat after Jamal Lowe put Swansea in front early in the second half.
But Wells levelled seven minutes from time after Swansea wing-back Connor Roberts was adjudged to have brought down Antoine Semenyo.
The draw means both clubs are without a victory in three matches, although Bristol City remain second in the Championship table with Swansea sixth.
Swansea are now unbeaten in 10 regular-season games on the road since a 1-0 loss at Fulham in February, yet they were left disappointed they did not take more at Ashton Gate.
The game was cagey for a while, with few clear-cut chances at either end.
Daniel Bentley pawed the ball to safety after a Roberts corner was not cleared, while Andre Ayew drove into the box before smashing a shot into the Bristol City goalkeeper's chest.
The hosts' first effort of note came from Jamie Paterson, whose shot was comfortably saved by Freddie Woodman, before the Swansea keeper pushed away Taylor Moore's header just before half-time.
It was Swansea who seized the initiative when Matt Grimes found Roberts and his touch put Lowe in space in the penalty area.
The angle was tight but Lowe did the rest, smashing a left-foot shot across Bentley and into the far corner of the net to claim a second goal since his close-season move from Wigan Athletic.
Bristol City had been unbeaten in the league until a disappointing display in their midweek loss at home to Middlesbrough, and they struggled to find a response here until the debatable penalty.
When a free-kick was floated into the penalty area by Chris Brunt, Roberts went to ground and in the process brought down Semenyo.
Referee Oliver Langford pointed to the spot and substitute Wells made no mistake, guiding his penalty straight down the middle as Woodman dived right.
Swansea had a couple of opportunities in the closing minutes, but Viktor Gyokeres and Bristol City old boy Korey Smith both fired wide.
Bristol City head coach Dean Holden:
"Given the circumstances that they were, late on, we take the point and move on. You try not to lose two games on the spin of course.
"It was important, more than anything, that we got a response after Tuesday and I think we got that. We dominated the game up until we got to their box, and we created some decent-ish chances without hurting them as much as we'd have liked.
"I'd have been disappointed if (the penalty) was given against us I have to say but, having said that, we had a stonewall penalty on Tuesday night on Tyreeq Bakinson which wasn't given, and they do say it evens itself up. But I didn't expect it to even out four days later, I have to be honest."
Swansea City head coach Steve Cooper:
"The lads are really disappointed with a point because of the nature of the equaliser and the decision on the penalty.
"I thought it was a decent game to be fair. I liked our performance coming away from home and trying to be as positive as we were, committing bodies forward when we could.
"We got the breakthrough, a great finish from Jamal, and we looked really settled in the game.
"If anything, I thought we were going to win the game by another goal and see the game out."