Sheffield Wed. 1 : 0 Reading - May wins it for Wednesday

Posted Sunday, September 21, 2014 by PA

Stevie May's late goal gave Sheffield Wednesday their first home league victory of the Sky Bet Championship season as they beat Reading 1-0.

It was May's fourth goal since he joined Wednesday from St Johnstone in August.

The result ended Reading's impressive run of four straight wins while Wednesday have now lost just once in their last 10 games.

It took 10 minutes for the Owls to produce their first effort of note, which came when May put a low, angled shot beyond the far post.

May then looked for a penalty after going down inside the area under a challenge from Alex Pearce, but referee Mark Heywood waved away the appeal.

Reading's Glenn Murray was then presented with a good chance but he put his first-time shot wide from a good position following a Simon Cox pull-back.

Murray wasted another great opening when he won a penalty in the 32nd minute after being fouled by Giles Coke, but his effort from the spot was saved by Keiren Westwood.

Wednesday's Jacques Maghoma had what proved to be the final effort of note before the break when he tried a low shot that went wide.

As the home side looked for a breakthrough early after the restart, Joe Mattock fired in a goal-bound shot that was blocked by a Reading defender.

Maghoma then tried a shot that went wide of the target.

Westwood came to Wednesday's rescue again with a good save from Jake Cooper's close-range header after Pearce headed back from Oliver Norwood's corner.

Another Norwood corner caused problems for the home defence with Murray's effort hitting the bar following a header on from Pearce.

A good spell for Wednesday followed with May and strike-partner Atdhe Nuhiu in the thick of the action.

Nuhiu put a near-post effort wide after connecting with a low cross from May and the Scot then tried a shot on the run with the ball flashing narrowly wide of Mikkel Andersen's right-hand post.

Following a scramble inside the area, Reading's Nick Blackman saw his low shot deflected wide.

Reading made a change in attack to try and spark a goal with Jamie Mackie coming on in place of Cox.

Blackman took a free-kick from distance and forced Westwood to make a save, the keeper palming the ball wide.

The goal finally came in the 83rd minute when Wednesday were awarded a free-kick just inside the D and May's drilled effort took a deflection to wrong-foot Andersen.

Wednesday threatened to add a second in the closing stages. The Reading defence managed to hack the ball clear following a goalmouth scramble and then Mattock put a low shot straight at Andersen.