Sheffield Wednesday boost survival hopes with convincing win over West Brom

Sheffield Wednesday earned a vital three points in their bid for Championship survival as they beat West Brom 3-0.

Goals from Anthony Musaba, Ike Ugbo and Josh Windass gave the Owls a second successive win and a three-point gap over the relegation zone ahead of the final round of fixtures.

Will Vaulks had an early effort for the home side, firing in a long-range shot which was palmed away by keeper Alex Palmer.

At the other end, Wednesday goalkeeper James Beadle was called into action to make a save at his near post to keep out a shot from Michael Johnston.

The Owls then struck the first blow after 22 minutes. Vaulks headed the ball into the area where Windass saw his effort saved by Palmer, only for Musaba to follow up and score.

The visitors threatened towards the end of the half but Kyle Bartley’s header goalwards hit his team-mate, Jed Wallace.

Wednesday made a strong start to the second half with Vaulks firing in a drive which was deflected off-target before they extended their lead.

The second goal, which came just five minutes after the re-start, owed much to Musaba’s persistence. He made a driving run at the heart of the Albion defence and appealed for a penalty after
being challenged by Cedric Kipre before the loose ball fell to Ugbo on the right-hand side of the area and he fired into the net.

West Brom boss Carlos Corberan responded by making four substitutions, taking off Wallace, Matty Phillips, Yann M’Vila and Conor Townsend, with Brandon Thomas-Asante, Alex Mowatt, Tom Fellows and Adam Reach coming on.

The impressive Musaba was involved again when he did well on the right-hand side and delivered a low cross to the near post which was met by Ugbo, whose shot was saved by Palmer down low to his left.

The woodwork then came to Albion’s rescue when a Windass header hit the outside of an upright, but it was 3-0 in the 69th minute when Barry Bannan’s 25-yard effort was parried by Palmer into the path of Windass, who tapped in from close range.

Beadle had a busy few minutes, first keeping out Grady Diangana’s close-range header, then saving John Swift’s curling shot and denying Kyle Bartley with a low stop.

However, the result was already wrapped up and Wednesday only need a point from their game at Sunderland next week to be certain of avoiding the drop.