Swansea City stepped up their Championship play-off chase with a controlled 4-0 home victory over bottom side Sheffield Wednesday, recording a sixth win in seven matches at the Swansea.com Stadium and moving within five points of the top six while extending Wednesday’s winless and goalless league runs.
The result deepened Wednesday’s troubles near the foot of the table, as Henrik Pedersen’s team stayed 39 points from safety with 15 fixtures still to play and slipped to an eighth straight defeat, while also creating unwanted club history by going nine consecutive league games without scoring.
Swansea’s breakthrough arrived on 19 minutes when Goncalo Franco finished a flowing move, punishing Wednesday after a promising opening spell, before Championship
leading scorer Zan Vipotnik struck twice in nine second-half minutes, including a precise free-kick, taking Vipotnik’s league tally to 15 goals.
Brighton loanee Malick Yalcouye completed the scoring late on with a first Swansea goal, adding further pressure on the visitors and sealing a clean sheet that underlined Swansea’s recent defensive improvement during Vitor Matos’ promising early spell in charge of the Welsh club.
| Team | Scorer | Minute | Score at time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swansea City | Goncalo Franco | 19 | 1-0 |
| Swansea City | Zan Vipotnik | Second half | 2-0 |
| Swansea City | Zan Vipotnik (free-kick) | Second half | 3-0 |
| Swansea City | Malick Yalcouye | Late on | 4-0 |
Matos highlighted mentality and control as core factors in the performance, stressing how an early lead helped Swansea dictate tempo and territory while limiting Wednesday’s ability to press, and expressing satisfaction with both the attacking output and the defensive structure behind the victory.
"It was a game where we showed the right mindset, Matos said.We knew it was a game where we needed to set the right tone in terms of intensity, in terms of dominance. I think we showed that. We scored the goal, which helped us to calm down and have better control of the game. I think it was a good gameclean sheet, goals, I am really happy. "
15 goals and counting for @SwansOfficials an Vipotnik this season!#EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/O6nlpSkyGrSky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) February 8, 2026
Despite the heavy defeat and the historic scoring drought, Pedersen pointed to Wednesday’s initial display as evidence of some progress, arguing that the opening phase showed energy and structure, even if that control disappeared once Franco’s goal forced the visitors deeper.
"We saw a positive energy in the first 19 minutes, he said.We had good pressing situations, good sequences on the ball. Then, they scored the goal, they played through us. After the goal, they got more confident on the ball and started to move us around. We wanted to be compact, but it was difficult for us. It was tough to press really tight against them. In the second half, we came out with good energy and started to win balls high up the pitch, but we also lost balls. The biggest challenge today was that when we won the ball, we also lost the ball. We didn't create what we wanted. "
The contrasting moods underlined each club’s direction, with Swansea’s home resurgence gathering speed under Matos and Wednesday searching for a way to end a nine-game barren spell in front of goal while trying to close an enormous gap to safety in the Sky Bet Championship.
