Darren Pratley scored a brace as Sheff Wed started life without Brian Laws with a 2-0 home defeat by Swansea.
Fifth successive defeat for managerless Wednesday
Darren Pratley scored a first-half brace as Sheffield Wednesday started life without Brian Laws with a 2-0 home defeat to Swansea City.
The Owls' 3-0 loss at Leicester City last week proved to be Laws' final game, but the managerial change failed to bring about an upturn in results after a fifth successive defeat and a sixth game without scoring.
Pratley set the Swans on their way to three points at Hillsborough by scoring after just five minutes and the midfielder added his second of the game 10 minutes before half-time.
Wednesday could not have made a worse start as they fell behind to the first meaningful attack of the game in the fifth minute.
Gorka Pintado picked the ball up on the left and flighted a fine pass over the top and, with Wednesday trying to play the offside trap, Pratley ran clear before slotting the ball past Lee Grant.
The hosts responded positively, though, and nearly levelled twice in a minute.
First Jermaine Johnson's 25-yard drive was palmed over by Dorus De Vries and, from the resulting corner, Darren Purse's header was beaten away by the Dutch keeper.
Wednesday were not able to capitalise, though, and they soon lost any momentum.
Vulnerable
Johnson was a continued threat on the wing but wasted possession, while the hosts were always vulnerable to the Swansea counter-attack.
And so it proved 10 minutes before the interval as Pratley got his and Swansea's second with a wonderfully-crafted goal.
There was an interchange of passes before Andrea Orlandi set the dangerous Nathan Dyer free and he beat his full-back before centring for Pratley, who met the cross with a low and powerful shot from 12 yards out to bag his fourth of the campaign.
Caretaker manager Sean McAuley's men did improve after the break and controlled the majority of the possession but their lack of creativity in the final third told and De Vries had very little to do.
Substitute Francis Jeffers did have a golden opportunity to get one back when he found himself in space in the penalty area but a heroic piece of defending by skipper Alan Tate saw his shot blocked.
Swansea offered very little as an attacking force in the second period and they seemed content to sit on their lead.
However, as much as Wednesday huffed and puffed they were not able to make the breakthrough and were subjected to a chorus of boos at the full-time whistle.
