Swansea City secure final Championship playoff spot

London, April 25, 2021 (AFP) - Swansea secured a Championship play-off place on Sunday with a hard-earned 2-2 draw at Reading, whose own top-six aspirations were ended by the result.

The Welsh side join Brentford, Bournemouth and Barnsley in the end-of-season shoot-out in the English second tier.

Norwich and Watford have already secured automatic promotion to the Premier League after both were relegated last year.

Swansea dominated much of the first half but fell behind against the run of play when Yakou Meite nodded home in the 31st minute.

Opportunist second-half efforts from Jamal Lowe and top-scorer Andre Ayew gave Swansea the lead, with Tomas Esteves' late equaliser for Reading proving irrelevant.

Ayew said he was delighted to reach the play-offs as Swansea target a return to the Premier League following three seasons in the Championship.

"Job done," he told Sky Sports. "It was a hard game against a good team. They started really well and I thought we were OK but they scored a good goal.

"In the second half we started passing the ball better and creating chances. We knew what we needed. We needed a goal, we needed a point to get into the play-offs, so we gave it a go.

"I'm happy because we're in the play-offs. We're in the mix now."

Luton beat Bristol City 3-2 in the other Championship match on Sunday.