Missed opportunity feels like the last chance has gone
Sheffield Wednesday creaked closer towards impending relegation on Saturday as Bristol City scored late to earn a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough.
Wednesday started the game well and took the lead inside 5 minutes when a deep corner from Bannan was steered back across goal by Windass for Borner to head home from close range.
City almost responded immediately when a loose ball in the Owls penalty area fell to Diedhiou but Westwood was able to make a smart save low down near the post post.
On 20 minutes the game appeared to swing even further in favour of the hosts. A ball to the back post found Paterson who mis-hit a shot from the angle of the 6-yard box. His effort bounced up towards the crossbar but didn’t appear to be going into the goal, however, Robins midfielder Henri Lansbury elected to make sure, reaching up to tip it over with his hand. The former Arsenal man was given a red card and Wednesday had the opportunity to make it 2-0 from the penalty spot, only for Bannan to see his tame effort saved by Bentley.
The home side continued on the front foot for much of the first half. Bannan beat 3 players with a mazy run into the penalty area but slid his shot wide, Windass hit a couple of snapshots off target and Palmer hit the bar when sliding in at the back post. At the other end, City created one chance of note, Pearson seeing an angled low strike saved comfortably by Westwood at his near post.
Wednesday continued to dominate possession at the start of the second half though clear cut chances were more sporadic. Windass saw a shot blocked when he should perhaps have slid in Bannan, Harris had a shot saved at close range by Bentley and Windass has another strike deflected wide after Bannan had picked out substitute Green with a fine long pass.
As the game entered the final 15 minutes the Owls created less and substitute Jordan Rhodes did not get into the game at all. Bannan again created a chance of his own with another jinking run with 10 minutes to go but his short was once again off target.
With the clock ticking down Wednesday started to sit deeper and paid a costly price for not putting the game to bed. With just 3 minutes remaining, Bakinson produced an excellent low drive from 25 yards out that arrowed past Westwood into the bottom corner to make it 1-1.
Desperate for a goal, the Owls tried to push forward and a low ball into the area from Green found Rhodes only for the striker to fluff his shot, Kachunga also saw a late chance blocked but as the final whistle went it was agony for Wednesday.
With only 12 points left to play for, Wednesday are 7 points adrift of safety and that gap could increase as Rotherham United are also in the relegation zone, 3 points above the Owls but they have 3 games in hand.