Bristol City 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday: City go second with win over the Owls

Sheffield Wednesday were made to rue their first half missed chances as a superb second-half showing from the Robins was complimented with goals from Tommy Rowe and Jamie Paterson to sink the Owls.

The victory means that Bristol City move up to second in the SkyBet Championship and go level with Reading FC. Sheffield Wednesday remain on a negative-eight-point tally at the foot of the league.

Story of the game

The first half was quite even between both sides, however, the Owls had the better of the chances, with Bristol City edging the possession stats.

Five minutes into the game, Kadeem Harris should have done better with a cross towards the back post from Liam Palmer, but the winger could only strike wide after getting the better of former Owl Jack Hunt.

Tyreeq Bakinson then had two chances to put his side ahead, seeing an effort deflect wide from Hunt’s pull-back before drilling wide of Cameron Dawson’s near post from the following corner.

Arguably, the best opportunity fell to the away side on 12 minutes. Barry Bannan picked out the late run of Elias Kachunga, but the Congolese national delayed his effort which allowed Daniel Bentley to come off his line to close the angle and block the shot.

Tom Lees then went close for the Owls with an unchallenged header from Bannan’s corner before Harris forced Bentley into a comfortable save, cutting in from the right before firing straight at the City number one.

The final two chances also fell to Wednesday, with Josh Windass missing both. The first being an effort through the legs of Bakinson which dragged wide of the far corner. Then, on the stroke of half time, Windass turned behind at the back post from Kachunga’s low-driven cross.

Bristol City started the second half much sharper and the more threatening of the two sides.

Andreas Weimann had City’s first major chance of the game on 54 minutes. Paterson’s free-kick was glanced towards the target, but the effort was batted away from goal by Dawson before the ball was cleared.

Bristol City then opened the scoring just before the hour mark through Tommy Rowe. Nahki Wells chipped a ball over the top of the Wednesday defence to Chris Martin, whose downward header was prodded past the ‘keeper by Rowe.

Things almost got worse for the Owls as straight from kick-off, Joost van Aken miscued a ball over the top which allowed Martin to chase down Dawson. The Wednesday goalkeeper managed to smother the ball at first, before spilling it into the path of Wells, who forced the ball over the top.

Wednesday looked for an equaliser, with Bannan lifting a ball into the path of Harris, however, Bentley rushed out to get to the ball ahead of the winger.

Harris then went close with five minutes remaining, curling wide of the top right following a clearance from the preceding corner.

Bristol City were in control of the second half and managed to put the game to bed in stoppage time. A ball into the Wednesday area was not cleared by the visitors, allowing Rowe to poke the ball away from Dominic Iorfa and into the feet of Patterson, who skipped past one challenge before bending his shot into the far corner of Dawson’s goal.

Takeaways from the game

It has been a positive start to life under new head coach Dean Holden, making it three wins from three games with this result. Despite a poor first-half performance, the Robins came out brilliantly, putting Wednesday on the back foot before the pressure became too much for the back three of the Owls.

On the other hand, Garry Monk will be disappointed with the way his back three capitulated after a fairly solid first-half display. The two goals they conceded were due to poor defensive decision making and positioning.

Stand-out performers

Wells was excellent for the Robins and the main catalyst for their attacks. The Bermudan forward managed to exploit Wednesday’s gaps at the back and a lot of moves came through him. It was also his delivery that created the opportunity for Martin to head the ball down for Rowe to finish.

Massimo Luongo’s performance in the first half was very good, thwarting City’s attacks through the centre and he was also good in possession. Arguably the away side’s best performer of the game.