Sheffield Wednesday vs Coventry City. Sky Bet Championship.
Hillsborough.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry at Hillsborough as Tom Lees' second-half header earned Owls boss Tony Pulis his first win since taking over in November
Saturday 19 December 2020 19:49, UK
Tony Pulis claimed his long-awaited first win as Sheffield Wednesday boss as Tom Lees' goal secured a 1-0 win over Coventry at Hillsborough.
Lees struck in the second half to lift the Owls off the bottom of the Championship, four points from safety.
Pulis made three changes from the team that lost to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night. Keiren Westwood replaced Joe Wildsmith in the Wednesday goal, Liam Palmer came in for Moses Odubajo and Callum Paterson took the place of Joost van Aken, who dropped to the bench.
Coventry manager Mark Robins made just the one alteration to his starting line-up. Max Biamou replaced suspended Gustavo Hamer, who was serving a one-match ban.
The visitors had the first chance of the game. Coventry striker Biamou was denied by Westwood who got down low to make the save in the sixth minute. Leo Ostigard could only head wide from the resultant corner.
Josh Windass tried his hand at goal in the 24th minute. The Owls' attacking midfielder was denied by Ben Sheaf, who blocked the shot in the penalty area.
The hosts concluded the opening half with another opportunity to take the lead. Windass ran onto a loose ball but could only strike wide in the 41st minute.
Robins was forced to make a change before the break. Tyler Walker was replaced by Amadou Bakayoko in the 42nd minute.
Windass forced Coventry goalkeeper Ben Wilson into a smart save in the 58th minute.
Westwood then emulated his opposite number and kept the scores level down the other end, stretching to keep out a shot from Bakayoko.
During an exciting spell of football, Coventry began to knock on the door. Palmer cleared off the line as Ostigard was denied from a Jamie Allen corner in the 61st minute.
The only goal of the game was scored by Wednesday in the 67th minute as Lees headed in from a Barry Bannan free-kick.
The visitors attempted to equalise instantly. Ostigard headed into the side-netting after Westwood kept out Bakayoko.
Wilson kept the score at 1-0 in the 89th minute, standing his ground when one on one with Windass.
Sheffield Wednesday's Tony Pulis: "The win was a long time coming. We showed a lot of resilience today and we needed the three points. We were missing quite a few players, but the players who stepped in played their part. They're a good group of lads.
"I am very pleased for this football club and for the supporters. We need to get results and we need clean sheets to get those results."
Coventry's Mark Robins: "I'm not going to make any excuses, but the pitch was horrific. The pitch meant that we couldn't get any momentum. Sheffield Wednesday were fighting and hadn't won since Tony came in. It's a disappointment for us because we couldn't keep our run going.
"We showed a lot of intent to try and score a goal, but that was difficult because of the pitch. No heads should be hanging. The lads did fantastically well and gave me everything that they had."
