Michael Smith scored twice against his former club to give Sheffield Wednesday a 2-0 victory over South Yorkshire rivals Rotherham United – their first win of the season.
In a derby encounter dominated by the home side, both goals came during the first 45 minutes. Rotherham never threatened to mount a comeback, only carving out a couple of decent chances.
It was new manager Danny Rohl’s first home game since taking charge at Hillsborough and he restored Reece James, Di’Shon Bernard and Callum Paterson to the starting line-up. Rotherham boss Matt Taylor named an unchanged side.
The opening goal came when Anthony Musaba got on the end of a great ball from Barry Bannan and had a shot saved by Viktor Johansson before picking up the rebound and squaring to Smith (12), who fired into the net. That was Wednesday’s first goal in over 10 hours.
The home side continued to apply pressure with George Byers shooting over, Musaba having a low shot saved and Josh Windass putting a great chance off-target after being set-up by Musaba.
Smith made it two-nil in the 36th minute, applying the finish after the lively Musaba caused problems for the Rotherham defenders, who failed to clear.
Another great chance came Wednesday’s way before the break when Callum Paterson’s cross was met by Musaba, but his downward header from a good position bounced over the bar.
Buoyed by their two-goal lead, Wednesday continued to hold the upper hand after the re-start.
A Windass shot from distance threatened to catch out Johansson, with the keeper relieved to see the ball go wide.
The visitors had a chance to pull a goal back when the ball fell to Sebastian Revan following a goal-mouth scramble but he fired over.
That apart, is was virtually all Wednesday from an attacking point of view.
Dominic Iorfa saw his shot deflected off-target and Smith put a low shot just wide. Musaba then had a shot blocked and Will Vaulks put an effort wide.
Musaba, who put in an excellent performance, was forced to go off in the 74th minute after picking up a knock with John Buckley taking his place.
A rare Rotherham attack in time added on saw Revan fire in a shot which flashed just wide of Cameron Dawson’s right-hand post.
The result leaves Wednesday eight points from safety at the foot of the Championship table.
