Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Swansea City: Aaron Connolly double sends Seagulls through
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Aaron Connolly celebrates his first Brighton goal since January
Aaron Connolly scored twice as Brighton reached round four of the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 win over Swansea City.
Graham Potter made 11 changes to the side which started Brighton's last Premier League game and the Seagulls had to work hard for victory.
Championship Swansea, who made nine changes of their own, missed a number of chances as Connolly's quickfire double saw Brighton progress.
Potter's men have now won six of their seven games this season.
They did not have it easy against Swansea, who had enough chances to cause an upset, but were wasteful in front of goal.
Liam Cullen had their first opportunity as he turned sharply but saw a shot saved by Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele, who then gathered Rhys Williams' header before Korey Smith nodded wide.
Steven Alzate and Alexis Mac Allister then combined to send Connolly into space and the Republic of Ireland international opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with the aid of a deflection off Brandon Cooper.
Connolly's second goal came only five minutes later as he cut in from the right and fired a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
Swansea threatened again after the break, with Cullen and Smith both hitting the bar from close range, while a crisp Morgan Whittaker volley forced another sharp save from Steele.
With that, Potter could celebrate victory over his old club - with Brighton almost stretching their advantage when Pascal Gross' late free-kick hit the bar.
There was more good news as full-back Tariq Lamptey played 45 minutes after nine months out injured.
Brighton manager Graham Potter:
"We're delighted to go through. It was a tough game - two teams going at it and Swansea contributed really well. I thought they were fantastic as well.
"I am really pleased with our players. The attitude was great, they showed respect to the opponent and worked really hard and Aaron's two finishes were the difference.
"I am really happy with him - he worked for the team as well.
"Forty-five minutes was always the plan with Tariq. He did well, it didn't look like a struggle for him. Now we need to see how he recovers."
Swansea head coach Russell Martin:
"We started the game brilliantly, pressed really high and won the ball back on numerous occasions and we should score, no doubt about it.
"We don't. The intensity drops a little bit. A little bit of fear came in - I don't know why. We kicked too many long balls.
"Two really poor goals to concede, which is frustrating, and we don't score - we have five amazing chances inside their box. But I really liked us, especially in the seconds half.
"I am just disappointed and they [the players] are disappointed that we haven't at least scored a couple of goals to take it through to penalties."
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