Luhukay delight as Wednesday beat Reading to reach FA Cup fifth round

Posted Saturday, January 27, 2018 by PA

Sheffield Wednesday manager Jos Luhukay hailed his side’s fighting spirit and the positive mood in the Owls camp after seeing them reach the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 3-1 victory over Reading.

Atdhe Nuhiu scored twice and George Boyd was also on target for the hosts at Hillsborough, with Reading’s late response coming via a Cameron Dawson own goal.

The result extended Wednesday’s unbeaten start under new boss Luhukay to five games, and the Dutchman is pleased at what he is seeing.

He said: “We are very happy with this result. We enjoyed at the end of the game that we are in the next round of the FA Cup.

“It was a very intensive game. We had a lot of problems in the first half and Reading had chances to score the first goal but at the right moments we scored our goals.

“At half-time we changed the system after having three strikers in the first half. We had control in midfield in the second half and with the speed of Marco Matias, we were dangerous.

“My players were fighting from the first minute to the last minute in the game and they had the fans behind them.

“I have a lot of trust in these players as they work very hard every day. The atmosphere in the team is very positive and we have good stability.”

Wednesday took a 29th-minute lead with their first attack of note. A great ball from Frederico Venancio found Nuhiu, who fired past Anssi Jaakkola with a low shot from the right-hand side of the area.

The home side extended their lead in the 53rd minute when Matias did well to send over a low cross from the left wing and Nuhiu produced a close-range finish.

Leandro Bacuna went close to pulling a goal back when his shot from distance beat goalkeeper Dawson but came back off the keeper’s left-hand post.

Boyd then made it 3-0 soon after, slotting past Jaakkola following indecision in the Reading defence.

Reading pulled a goal back five minutes from time when a deflected cross hit a post and went in off Dawson for an own goal, but it was nothing more than a consolation for the visitors.

Royals boss Jaap Stam rued his side’s inability to make the most of their chances.

He said: “I think before every goal they scored, we had a couple of opportunities to score ourselves. They were not small opportunities, but quite clear ones.

“If you’re losing the ball that easily and every shot they have goes in, you make it very difficult for yourself.

“It’s very difficult to win the game. We should have done better at times with decision making.”

Reading have now won just one of their last 11 league and cup matches, leaving last season’s play-off finalists only four points above the Championship relegation zone and now out of the FA Cup.

Stam said: “Everybody knows how it goes in football. If you’re not winning games then of course, at the end of the day, the manager is going to get, how do you say it…? That’s how it is.

“We’re not getting the results but we know what we can do. We need to stay focused and stick together.”