Swansea make Carabao Cup progress with victory over 10-man Gillingham

Swansea booked their place into the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 3-1 triumph over 10-man Gillingham at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Ronald opened the scoring midway through the second half and, after Euan Williams had been off for the visitors soon after half-time, Liam Cullen doubled the lead.

Oliver Hawkins pulled a late goal back for Gills but Azeem Abdulai finished off their hopes of an equaliser with a stoppage-time third for the Championship outfit.

Following a lacklustre start to their campaign at Middlesbrough, the Swans quickly asserted themselves onto their League Two counterparts with Ollie Cooper testing Glenn Morris from a narrow angle before Ronald’s inviting cross was prodded over by Zan Vipotnik.

Cooper and Ronald proved a constant early threat and their neat exchange of passes saw Ronald denied by the veteran stopper.

Gillingham continued to ride their luck when Vipotnik fired harmlessly over, but their resolve was broken in the 24th minute as Ronald stylishly stamped his authority on the game.

The Brazilian winger cut in from the left touchline towards the edge of the 18-yard area before dispatching a curling right-footed finish into the far bottom corner.

Gillingham’s hopes of restoring parity faded six minutes into the second period when Williams’ mistimed challenge saw the midfielder shown a straight red card.

With Swansea in full control, Cullen found himself unmarked to stroke in his side’s second goal that seemed to effectively settle the contest.

The game threatened to take an unlikely twist however, when Hawkins rose highest to breathe fresh life into the 10-men Gills and halve the deficit late on, but Swansea responded with Abdulai pouncing to net a third in added time.