Wednesday beat league leaders away
Sheffield Wednesday’s 4-game winless run in League One came to an end on Tuesday evening as the Owls beat Wigan Athletic at the DW stadium.
Wigan came into the game in confident move having won five in a row and they named an unchanged side for the fourth successive game. Wednesday captain Barry Bannan was only fit enough for a place on the bench having hobbled off in the 1-1 draw at Ipswich at the weekend.
The Owls started well without creating anything but managed to contain their in-form hosts in the opening 20 minutes before taking the lead completely out of the blue midway through the half. A speculative ball forward by Hutchinson was headed back towards his own goal by Power but the Wigan midfielder hadn’t spotted his keeper coming out for the ball. Power’s header floated past his own keeper and trickled over the goal line to give the visitors the lead.
The hosts responded straight from kick-off and created a great chance for Will Keane, who saw his close-range header well saved by Peacock-Farrell. Wednesday lost their way somewhat as the half wore on and conceded a host of corners but Wigan failed to create anything from them and the Owls went in 1-0 up at the break.
Darren Moore’s side seemed to be served well by the half-time break and came out on the front foot at the start of the second half. In the first five minutes Gregory saw a good strike tipped onto the bar by Amos in the home goal before Dunkley headed off target from a corner.
Paterson then hit a shot just wide, but on the hour mark the Scot doubled the Owls lead. Gregory chased down a loose ball near the corner flag, dispossessed the Wigan defender and crossed quickly for Paterson to hit a first time strike into the roof of the net on the bounce.
The league leaders struggled to find a way back into the game but were given a lifeline with eight minutes to go when Johnson hauled down Lang in the penalty area. Wyke made no mistake from the spot to reduce the arrears, making for a never last fifteen minutes for Wednesday.
Gregory had a great chance to ease the nerves moments after the penalty but could only find the keeper with his close range strike with the goal at his mercy.
Peacock-Farrell made a good save from a Whatmough header as the game moved towards six minutes of injury time and although the Latics forced more corners they could not find another goal, falling to their first home league defeat of the season.
The result moves the Owls up to 9th place in League One, two points behind the top six with a game in hand on five of the teams above them.