Sheffield Wednesday cruised to a comfortable 2-0 win over Charlton Athletic, climbing to sixth place in the table.
It was a strong start to proceedings from the Owls, who took the game to the visitors right from the off by winning a few early corners to set the tone and get the crowd roaring. Jack Hunt was taken down after some eye-catching play down the right flank from Darren Moore’s men, which resulted in the opener within five minutes as George Byers cushioned the ball in from Barry Bannan’s cross to give his side the lead.
Straight after going ahead, Wednesday were on the hunt for a second with Charlton hardly able to get a hold of the ball and pinned inside their half as they tried to avoid conceding twice in quick succession. On the stroke of 10 minutes, the Addicks enjoyed their first real spell of possession and looked to get in behind only for Sam Hutchinson and Jordan Storey to come up with crucial tackles to keep Charlton at bay. As the tie approached 15 minutes, Saido Berahino’s excellent hold-up play saw Wednesday launch a decent attack but the ball was cleared for a corner, following which Johnnie Jackson’s side threatened on the counter, but skipper Barry Bannan helped the hosts recover from danger with some outstanding backtracking.
Shortly after, Marvin Johnson drove through the left wing and delivered a good ball into the box which couldn’t find any Wednesday heads as it remained one-way traffic for the majority of the opening 45 minutes. Charlton’s best chance of scoring all evening came on the 20 minute mark as a perfectly-weighed cross from the right-hand side didn’t find any attackers in the box. Callum Paterson, who is adored by Wednesday fans for his work-rate off the ball, had a chance of making it two but a timely intervention from George Dobson denied the former Cardiff City star from testing Craig MacGillivray.
Bannan, who ran the show in the middle of the park for Wednesday, won the ball back after a misplaced pass attempted to find Saido Berahino and launched an effort from outside the area which just missed the left side of the post. Adam Matthews came off injured and was replaced by Diallang Jaiyesimi for Charlton after 30 minutes. Liam Palmer came to the rescue for the home side after the ball dropped dangerously for the south-east London outfit near the Wednesday area.
Jack Hunt, who enjoyed a stellar game on the right wing, put in a great ball which was met by Paterson by cleared away for a corner with just over ten minutes left for the interval. Paterson finally got in on the act after a defence-splitting pass from midfield found Johnson on the edge of the area, who teed up Wednesday’s man-of-the-moment to make it two on the cusp of half-time. It was nearly three immediately after, as the Charlton defenders put their bodies on the line to keep the visitors in the tie after a woeful first-half from Jackson’s men.
The second-half saw both sides make a host of changes with very little happening at either end, as Wednesday held the ball for long quarters and Charlton probing for a way back but with little success. It finished 2-0 to Wednesday after a dominating display from Darren Moore’s side.
Sheffield Wednesday: Peacock-Farrell; Storey, Hutchinson, Palmer; Hunt (Gibson 78’), Byers, Luongo, Bannan (Sow 93’), Johnson (Brennan 84’); Berahino (Kamberi 71’), Patterson. Unused subs: Wildsmith, Iorfa, Brown.
Charlton Athletic: Macgillivray; Gunter, Lavelle, Famewo; Matthews (Jaiyesimi 30’), Gilbey (Fraser 70’), Dobson, Morgan (Stockley 45’), Purrington; Burstow (Leko 60’), Lee. Unused subs: Harness, Piers, John.
Bookings: Sheffield Wednesday: Palmer 43’, Storey 82’, Paterson 91’.
Charlton Athletic: Jaiyesimi 49’, Purrington 75’.
Goals: Sheffield Wednesday: Byers 5’, Paterson 45’.
Attendance: 21,845.
Referee: Oliver Langford.
