Spanish side win at Hillsborough
Sheffield Wednesday's final warm up game for the 2018-19 season ended in defeat on Saturday afternoon as Villarreal won 3-1 at Hillsborough.
The home side started well and had a chance to take the lead when Nuhiu headed over the bar but they fell behind inside 20 minutes when Moreno beat Pudil to the ball into the box to head home. The Spanish side started to take control at that stage with some fluent passing and Moreno curled just wide from the edge of the box.
Wednesday kept at it however and made it 1-1 against the run of play when Liam Palmer robbed Funes Mori of the ball and fired low beyond the keeper just after the half-hour. Wildsmith then produced a smart low save just before half-time to deny Cazorla and ensure that the sides went in level.
Dawson replaced Wildsmith in goal for the 2nd half and within 3 minutes he was picking the ball out of the net as the Owls switched off for a Villarreal corner and Funes Mori headed home.
Ekambi made it 3-1 with around 20 minutes to go, playing a quick 1-2 with Moreno before producing a delightful deft chip over the advancing Dawson. Wednesday substitute Fletcher went close to reducing the arrears late on but his low strike from the left-side of the penalty area struck the outside of the post.
While it was certainly no disgrace to lose 3-1 to a side that finished 5th in La Liga last season, Wednesday did seem a little to incoherent defensively considering their season kicks off next Saturday.