By Paul Jones
Joe Allen has been labelled as a pure footballer after rescuing a point for Swansea City which keeps them on the outskirts of the play-off race.
The Wales veteran came off the bench to score in the 93rd minute as he headed home the equaliser to earn his side an unlikely share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw against West Brom.
Allen had been introduced in the 80th minute as Swansea boss Luke Williams sought some inspiration after seeing his side fall behind. Tom Fellows had come off the bench for the Baggies to take the lead in the 67th minute of a tight, end to end contest.
88th minute: Joe Allen is subbed on and the West Brom fans chant “Joe Allen we thought you were dead”.
92nd minute: Joe Allen scores a late equaliser and the Swansea City fans chant “Joe Allen you thought he was dead”.
What a moment. pic.twitter.com/2RDrK2SITQ
— Only Swans (@onlyswanss) January 4, 2025
Allen struck after a deep cross from the left by Matt Grimes had reached Ronald and the Brazilian’s volleyed cross was buried by the veteran Welsh international with his first goal since March 2024.
“Some players are a full-back or a winger or a midfielder and some are just footballers,” said Swansea head coach Luke Williams.
“Joe Allen is just a footballer – he knows how to handle himself in all different scenarios.”
“Liam Cullen has played a lot of minutes and he was starting to look tired and the pitch was heavy. He’d just started to lose his energy and that’s why I brought on Joey Allen, who is a special player.
“I think we deserved a draw because I don’t think there was a huge amount in the game either way. Both teams looked very tired but I think we were value for a point.
The Baggies, six points ahead of the Swans in sixth place, had been linked with Swansea City boss Luke Williams, although he ruled himself out of the race to replace Carlos Corberan in a forthright statement in the build up to the game.
Williams added: “It’s a situation that I didn’t help. I created a lot of the noise without meaning to.
“There’s been no contact from West Brom to me or my agent or the football club. There’s been no contact at all.
“In fact, my agent has been quite unwell and been in bed for most of the Christmas period, then he phoned me up and said, ‘What have you done? What’s going on?’
“I’m pleased that’s behind us. The players were excellent today. Certainly my group looked like they were unaffected by all the noise.”
The gaffer says he still has a lot to prove to Swans fans as he approaches a year in charge, and is excited about the future at the https://t.co/3tesyKW9Jt Stadium
https://t.co/IrSEFfEdZH pic.twitter.com/JIEnrpJ3cP
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) January 3, 2025
Williams also hailed a “heroic” performance from centre-back Harry Darling who was playing without injured Ben Cabango alongside him for the first time this season in the Championship.
Darling – who is out of contract at the end of the season – has yet to agree a new deal but Williams said: “Harry was outstanding, and it is impossible to question his commitment to the football club because that an heroic performance from him.
“He is fantastic at defending the goal, competing for everything with the opposition.
“But he also had plenty of brilliant actions in helping us to build-up to try and score. He was brilliant, he’s an excellent player.”
West Brom’s caretaker boss Chris Brunt said: “There are good draws and bad draws and that’s probably a bad draw for us. Everyone is gutted in the changing room.
“There were a few tired bodies out there and unfortunately we just couldn’t deal with that last ball into our box.
“We’ve played five games in the last 14 days and we have asked the players to go to their limits and it has been difficult for everyone involved.
“On the whole I don’t think we deserved that. We created a lot of opportunities, asked questions of them throughout the game but let ourselves down in the final third.”
Luke Williams Insists He’s Not Leaving Swansea City . . . But He Will Be Wising Up
