Sheffield Wednesday up and running at the fourth attempt

Posted Thursday, August 23, 2018 by PA

Barry Bannan and Tom Lees scored either side of the break to earn Sheffield Wednesday a 2-1 victory over Millwall – their first win of the season.

Ryan Tunnicliffe scored for the Lions, who were previously unbeaten.

Wednesday manager Jos Luhukay made five changes to his starting line-up, with Fernando Forestieri and Atdhe Nuhiu among those to miss out. They were among the substitutes. Young duo Fraser Preston and Matt Penney made their full debuts.

Wednesday’s Steven Fletcher put an early header straight at goalkeeper Jordan Archer after meeting a Marco Matias cross.

The home side took the lead in the 16th minute when an Adam Reach cross into the area was cleared only as far as Bannan, who hammered the ball past Archer from the edge of the box.

Joey Pelupessy then went close for Wednesday with a dipping, long-range effort which only just cleared the crossbar.

Bannan also saw an effort go wide after taking a deflection.

Towards the end of the half, Millwall’s Jed Wallace put a low shot wide of Cameron Dawson’s right-hand post

Just before the half-time whistle, Jordan Thorniley missed a great chance for the hosts, heading wide after connecting with Bannan’s free-kick.

Lees extended Wednesday’s lead in the opening minute of the second half, stabbing the ball in at the far post after a free-kick floated in from the left was not dealt with by the Millwall defence.

After introducing Conor McLaughlin as a half-time replacement for George Saville, Millwall boss Neil Harris made a double substitution around the hour-mark in a bid to spark a revival, sending on Tom Elliott and Jiri Skalak in place of Steve Morison and Aiden O’Brien.

With around 20 minutes remaining, Wednesday also made two changes with Forestieri and Nuhiu replacing Matias and Fletcher.

Millwall pulled a goal back after 72 minutes when Lee Gregory found himself in space on the left-hand side of the area and squared to Tunnicliffe, who slotted the ball into the net.

The goal heralded the start of a good spell for the visitors with Skalak putting a 25-yard effort wide and Wallace seeing his half-volley going just over.

There was an enforced chance for Wednesday when Preston limped off and was replaced by George Boyd.

Forestieri had an overhead-kick blocked in the closing stages and also put a shot into the side-netting.

Nuhiu had a chance when he met Bannan’s low, driven cross at the far post, but he put his effort over.

Millwall threatened in stoppage time when Jake Cooper headed the ball back into the area following Skalak’s corner, which resulted in a goalmouth scramble before Wednesday were able to snuff out the danger.

Skalak then had a shot saved by Dawson as the visitors threw men forward in a late bid to force an equaliser.