Wednesday bounce back from weekend defeat
Sheffield Wednesday put the disappointment of Saturday's defeat to Aston Villa behind them on Tuesday evening in what turned out to be a comfortable home win against Nottingham Forest.
A frustratingly stop-start first half saw the keepers on top. Steele did well to palm away a close-range Lucas Joao header early on and just after the half-hour he got down superbly to keep out a well struck low drive by Marco Matias. Forest responded and Westwood was alert to rush out and deny Joe Lolley who looked destined to score having controlled the ball little more than six yards out.
Wednesday were out of the blocks quickly in the second half and took the lead in stunning fashion just two minutes after the restart. The Owls were gifted possession 25-yards out and Matias volleyed goal-wards with a strike that seemed to catch the Forest keeper unawares to the delight of the Hillsborough faithful. Having got their nose in front Wednesday never looked back and doubled their lead inside the hour. A quick Owls break the started with Westwood resulted in Joao accurately heading into the path of George Boyd and the former Burnley midfielder produced a sweet left foot volley from wide on the left which arrowed past Steele into the opposite bottom corner.
The result was wrapped up on 67 minutes when substitute Gary Hooper linked up with Joao, the Portuguese forward then beck-heeled the ball towards the onrushing Matias who challenged for th ball with a defender inside the area, Steele made a good stop as the ball deflected towards goal but could do nothing to deny Matias steering the ball home from close range.
Westwood made a couple of routine saves late on but Forest were well beaten and the Owls kept their slim hopes of a play-off place alive. Steve Bruce will have been delighted with the reaction following the defeat at the weekend, even more so as fringe players like Matias, Joao, Fox and Pelupessy came in and made positive contributions.
Next up for the Owls is a trip to promotion chasing Leeds United on Saturday.