Sheffield Wednesday vs Bristol City. Sky Bet Championship.
HillsboroughAttendance23,180.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at Hillsborough
Sunday 22 December 2019 15:13, UK
Sheffield Wednesday moved into third in the Sky Bet Championship with a narrow victory over fellow play-off contenders Bristol City.
Barry Bannan's controversial penalty five minutes from time proved the difference after Tommy Rowe was adjudged to have fouled Atdhe Nuhiu in the box.
Liam Palmer and Adam Reach went close for the Owls prior to Bannan's penalty, while the goalscorer also saw a brilliant free-kick tipped round the post by Daniel Bentley.
Callum O'Dowda and Jack Hunt had City's best chances, but they remain eighth in the table and two points off the play-offs despite suffering a third consecutive defeat.
The game was just 30 seconds old when O'Dowda wasted a glorious opportunity. Josh Browhill picked out the recalled winger in the box and he took one touch, before dragging a shot wide of the post from 12 yards out.
Wednesday were poor for the opening 24 minutes but nearly took the lead from their first corner. Palmer ghosted in unmarked at the back post and hit his first-time volley sweetly, but Korey Smith was able to block it on the line for City.
That sparked Wednesday into life for a ten-minute period. Reach found the side-netting after bringing down a brilliant Bannan ball, before Kadeem Harris and Palmer both tested Bentley with low drives from the left. The first save from Harris saw him dive sharply to his left to parry the shot.
Reach had already blazed over from a neatly worked set-piece when he was denied by Bentley five minutes after the break. The 'keeper spread himself magnificently after Williams' poor clearance to deny the winger.
Wednesday then had Palmer to thank for clearing a Jack Hunt header off the line, following a wicked ball to the back post from Rowe. The lively start to the second half lifted the noise at Hillsborough.
Bannan looked the most likely to break the deadlock for Wednesday as he continued to pull the strings in the middle of the pitch. A sweet volley from the edge of the area was blocked by the head of Tomas Kalas, before Bentley flung himself to his left to tip a goalbound free-kick wide of the post.
Seven minutes from time Bannan was handed a golden chance to break the deadlock from the spot. Rowe and Nuhiu battled for the ball on the right-hand edge of the box and with both players off balance, referee Tony Harrington felt the City player fouled Nuhiu, despite no signal from the assistant referee who was closer to the incident.
Despite Bentley's best attempts to delay the penalty, for which he was booked, Bannan calmly sent him the wrong way.
City never looked like equalising as Wednesday did enough to move up four places in the table and, barring a possible points deduction, confirm themselves as promotion contenders.
Not only was Bannan cool, calm and collected when it mattered most from the spot, he had been the game's best player prior to that.
All the Owls' best moves came through the influential Scot, who also tested Bentley with a free-kick from 35-yards out and saw a volley blocked when it looked goalbound.
Sky Sports pundit Keith Andrews: "The defining moment is very controversial. I don't see it as a clear penalty. Nuhiu's clever as he puts on the brakes ever so slightly and Tommy Rowe shouldn't get as tight as it's risky.
"If now we're in an era where these are penalty kicks, then I'm giving up. That's an absolute nonsense. Of course there is contact and his right arm is there. I see it but contact doesn't automatically equal an infringement or a penalty. We've gone too far with it now.
"He knows exactly what he is doing. It's absolutely been won. It's experience and it's come into the game where attacking players put the brakes on, wait for a little bit of contact and go down. It takes an experienced referee with common sense and nous to judge what really an infringement is. For me, that's not."
Sheffield Wednesday's Garry Monk: "Overall, in terms of chances created, pressure and that side of it, we deserved to win that game. A good idea in terms of how far we've come is that in tight games like that we were the ones making mistakes, it's nice to see the lads to manage it to the end, stick to it and focus. The group are learning and overall, we didn't concede too much and we felt we deserved to win that game.
"We had a shout just before then and it looked a clear penalty from where we were. We had opportunities in and around the box, we were creating chances and to come out on top in a game like this you to be on the right side of tight margins. Before we might have made the silly mistake or shot ourselves in the footy, it's pleasing that we didn't."
Bristol City's Lee Johnson: "The referee has been sucked in. The linesman didn't give it and it's questionable whether it's even in the box. Everyone knows it is a poor decision. They know that in the officials room too. They let me in early so that they could apologise. Unfortunately they can't see the replay because they are human and we haven't got VAR, which I know a lot of the Championship are rallying for.
"If that decision isn't given then it's a 0-0 game and although we didn't show enough attacking prowess for my liking, or quality, we defended resolutely and people put their bodies on the line. We worked extremely hard and it's disappointing to be stung by something that is a third party mistake."
Sheffield Wednesday travel to Stoke City, while Bristol City make the trip to London and to struggling Charlton for a 3pm kick-off on Boxing Day.
