Forestieri on fire at Hillsborough

Last updated : 27 December 2015 By C. Morris

Sheffield Wednesday enjoyed a comfortable victory on Boxing Day, beating fellow play-off hopefuls Birmingham City 3-0 with Fernando Forestieri bagging a brace for the 2nd game in a row.

2 goals in 2 minutes towards the end of the first half put the Owls in control and although there was an element of fortune about both goals the home side deserved the advantage having dominated for most of the half.

Gary Hooper had already had a goal ruled out for offside before a neat move down the Owls right resulted in Jack Hunt breaking into the box. The full-back looked to pick out Nuhiu with a low cross and as the big striker was challenged for the ball it broke kindly for Forestieri to bundle home from close range.

2 minutes later Wallace looked to pick out Lee on the right side of the penalty area, an attempted clearance by a Birmingham defender ricocheted off his team mate to send Lee clean through on goal and the Wednesday midfielder calmly slotted home to double the Owls advantage.

Nuhiu almost wrapped the game up before half-time but his instinctive flick when the visitors failed to clear a set-piece was cleared close to the goal line.

5 minutes into the 2nd half the game was won when that man Forestieri picked up the ball from a Nuhiu pass on the halfway line and broke into the Birmingham half. The diminutive forward clearly only had one thing on his mind and cut back just inside the penalty area before curling a sublime shot into the net in front of a delighted Kop.

With the match won and more games to come over the busy festive period Wednesday took their foot off the gas. Helan replaced Wallace and with 20 minutes to go McGugan came on for Forestieri, who seemed upset at not getting the chance to complete a hat-trick.

Bannan and Lee continued to dictate the game from midfield and Helan saw an effort well saved while at the other end Wildsmith saved well from a Vaughan header on a rare call to action.

Next up for the Owls is a trip to high-flying Middlesbrough on Monday.