Sheffield Wednesday slumped to a 7th defeat in 9 winless Championship games on Wednesday evening as predicted promotion contenders Blackburn Rovers struggled to a 1-0 home win.
The hosts took the lead as early as the 5th minute when midfielder David Dunn got away from his Owls counterpart Ross Barkley and squared the ball into the path of Grant Hanley who scored from close range. The goal gave Rovers a lift and they were on top during the first quarter of the match.
As the half went on Wednesday got a foothold in the game and went close when Llera fired a free-kick wide and Antonio should have done better to fire a chance off target having controlled well around the half-hour mark.
The Owls started the 2nd half well and Llera headed wide from a free-kick. Lewis Buxton fizzed an effort across goal after working his way into a good position but Wednesday couldn’t find away to convert their control of the ball into clear cut opportunities.
The visitors continued on the front foot for much of the 2nd half, Barkley fired an effort wide of the mark and Dave Jones introduced attacking players Rodri and the belatedly Chris O’ Grady into the fold. Blackburn looked to pick Wednesday off as the Owls searched for an equaliser and Llera had to be alert to deny Pederson from a deflected free-kick.
The result was a frustrating one for Wednesday yet again. Despite losing 7 of their last 9 matches the only game that they were significantly 2nd best in was the 3-0 defeat at Brighton. However, it all very well being able to compete and put in decent performances along the way but the bottom line is that if they do not possess a cutting edge in the attacking third and cannot keep a clean sheet (the Owls are yet to do so in the league this season) then that is a recipe for trouble as is highlighted by the Championship table with the Owls currently 1 place off the bottom.