Point for Wednesday at Oakwell
Sheffield Wednesday picked up a point at Oakwell on Saturday lunchtime to maintain a 6-point advantage on their South Yorkshire rivals at the wrong end of the Championship table but they rarely looked like ending their winless league run in 2018 during the 1-1 draw.
The Owls made a decent start to the game with Venancio heading the first real chance of the game into the side netting though he appeared to be flagged offside. The visitors took the lead on 18 minutes when a fine pass from Wallace picked out Joao in the box and the Portuguese striker was hauled down by Yiadom. Atdhe Nuhiu stepped up and drilled the spot kick down the middle of the goal to the delight of the travelling hoards behind the goal.
It was Wednesday’s first lead in the league in 2018 but it barely lasted 3 minutes. The Owls allowed new Barnsley forward McBurnie the freedom to run at them midway inside their defensive half and having advanced into the penalty area without a challenge of note the on-loan Swansea man found a fine finish to beat Wildsmith.
The home side took control of the next 40 minutes or so from that point with Wildsmith key to keeping the sides level, saving well from Bradshaw and McBurnie either side of half-time. The final half an hour was more even and the Owls twice went close with decent efforts from distance by Wallace and Pelupessy but they failed to get anything of note on target and so had to be content with a point.
Wednesday are yet to win a league game under new manager Jos Luhukay having drawn 4 of their 5 Championship matches since he took charge. They face in-form Derby County at Hillsborough on Tuesday before Carlos Carvalhal returns to S6 with Swansea in the F.A. Cup next Saturday.