Swansea City 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday: Swans held by Owls as Pulis banks first point
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Wednesday's Liam Palmer clears under pressure from Swansea pair Liam Cullen and Yan Dhanda
Swansea City were held to a 1-1 draw by Sheffield Wednesday as Tony Pulis claimed his first point as Owls boss.
Wednesday were on course for victory after Adam Reach scored from a well-worked corner to give Pulis' team a deserved lead at the break.
But Swansea, who have lost only twice in the league this season, improved significantly in the second half and levelled thanks to a classy finish from six-goal leading scorer Andre Aye.
Yet a disciplined, hard-working Wednesday display was enough to deny Swansea a fourth successive home victory and give Pulis his first positive result since taking over from Garry Monk on 13 November.
The draw means Swansea stay fourth in the Championship, while Wednesday remain 23rd.
The vastly experienced Pulis has only been in charge at Hillsborough for 12 days, yet already there are signs that he is making a mark.
Swansea made so little impact going forward in the first 45 minutes that it felt as if Wednesday had an extra man on the pitch.
With Pulis - typically - barking a blend of orders and words of encouragement throughout, his rearguard kept Swansea at bay with some comfort.
The only threats were from the visitors, with Julian Borner firing a shot straight at Swansea keeper Freddie Woodman after a throw-in was not cleared.
Pulis is renowned for his set-piece work, so perhaps it was no surprise that the opening goal of his reign - and Wednesday's first aside from a penalty against Bournemouth in 632 minutes of Championship football - came from a dead ball.
With a crowd of players in the six-yard box, Barry Bannan rolled the ball low towards the penalty spot and the unmarked Reach stroked home first time.
Swansea's Ryan Bennett rises highest to win a header
In need of a response, Swans boss Steve Cooper sent on Kasey Palmer and fit-again Ayew at the break and the latter immediately had a hand in creating the home side's first chance as Jamal Lowe shot wide at the near post.
Palmer then saw a deflected effort saved by Joe Wildsmith - who had come on in the first half after Keiren Westwood limped off clutching his groin - before Ayew's class brought the leveller.
The Ghana captain had plenty of work to do when he picked up possession in the penalty area, but skipped away from a couple of defenders before guiding a shot into the far corner of the net.
Swansea were now the side asking questions in attack, with Yan Dhanda twice going close with long-range efforts before Ayew's late drive was pushed over the bar by Wildsmith.
And there was frustration for the hosts right at the end when they screamed for handball during a scramble in the Wednesday box but referee Andy Woolmer waved appeals away.
Swansea head coach Steve Cooper:
"We didn't play well enough first half, that's for sure, and I am not going to lose sight of that when I analyse the game back with the players.
"We fell into the trap of having loads of the ball, not being quick enough and creative enough with it and getting done on a set-piece or a counter-attack.
"But fair play, a couple of changes second half, an improvement in intensity and we were good for getting back in the game.
"There are some good positives from the second half and Andre ended up giving us a defining moment for the game, a great finish as we have come to expect from him.
"The end was the end. Apparently it was a foul on the goalkeeper he blew for. Good luck in writing about that one wherever it was."
Sheffield Wednesday manager Tony Pulis:
"I thought we played really well in the first half. After the first 10 minutes of Swansea possession I thought we played into the space more and looked like a really good passing team.
"They changed their system in the second half. Ayew is one of the best forwards in the league and him coming on was the difference.
"The psychological effect of him coming on was that our defenders took a step back and they then controlled the game.
"The lads have worked really hard, they're a really good group of lads. There's lots we have to work on and lots I'd like to put in place, but to think we had six players out tonight, those players would have started, so they've done fantastically well, especially with two away games in a row."