Hull City eased fears of relegation with a dramatic late victory at Sheffield Wednesday to move three points clear of the drop zone.
The game burst into life in the final few minutes, though the home side looked the more likely to steal the points. Nevertheless, Lincoln Henrique delivered a pinpoint set-piece onto the head of Charlie Hughes, whose effort looped into the far corner to send the away end into ecstasy.
Late Delight
On a day when Derby were the only side to lose of the teams currently in the bottom six, the Tigers were one of two sides to pick up three points. Defeat would have left them perilously close to dropping into the bottom three, but they didn’t need to worry after that late victory. Ivor Pandur produced a huge stop to preserve their lead even deeper into stoppage time, clawing out a Dominic Iorfa header.
Prior to seven minutes of injury time, Joao Pedro headed wide in the visitors’ best opportunity since Kyle Joseph was denied before the interval. At the other end, Barry Bannan was cynically brought down on the counter, before Shea Charles raced clear on goal, only to be denied by Pandur, under pressure from the Tigers’ defence.
In a dull first half, Wednesday’s best outlet came from their long throws, which caused issues for the Hull defence, though not enough to break the deadlock. Meanwhile, the Tigers often found joy on the counter from those situations, but they struggled to translate that into genuine chances.
Owls Woes
It has been a week of huge uncertainty off the pitch for Sheffield Wednesday. The latest development on Friday evening stated that a three-window transfer ban may be imposed if players’ wages aren’t paid by Monday. There were chants aimed at Dejphon Chansiri from the Kop just after kick-off, before the next round came from the North Stand after the hour mark.
On the pitch, Wednesday’s form at Hillsborough has been their Achilles heel all season. Only their opponents Hull have picked up fewer points on home soil than Danny Röhl’s outfit. It should come as no surprise to find that the Tigers are better on the road than in East Yorkshire, recording their seventh away victory of the campaign this afternoon. That figure is the same position that Rubén Sellés’ side occupy in the away table, emphasising a need to improve their form at the MKM Stadium.
In terms of the standings for Wednesday, this latest home loss leaves them eight adrift of the top six. What will hurt though is that five of the six sides directly above them lost over the course of matchday 40 in the Championship.
Writer’s View
While the spectacle wasn’t brilliant, Hull did what they needed to on a huge afternoon of Championship football. That probably brings Wednesday’s campaign to a close, after flirting with the top six for much of the season. All eyes instead turn to owner Dejphon Chansiri in the coming days to see what punishment they will face if wages aren’t paid in the next couple of days
