Bloodied Sheffield Wednesday back down to earth with a bump in Norwich City defeat

One of the main things that Wednesday will have wanted to do in the early stages of the game will have been to keep it tight, to keep Norwich at bay. What actually happened, was the complete opposite – and within seven minutes they found themselves chasing the game.

Borja Sainz, formerly of Alaves and Real Zaragoza, was given too much room on the edge of the box, and after evading a lacklustre attempt to close him down he let rip. His effort curled with power past Cameron Dawson and into the top corner. Less than 10 minutes gone, and the Owls already had a mountain to climb.

But they weren’t going down without a fight even after their early setback, and collectively they tried to rally. They didn’t lose their composure and the press continued throughout, being led by young striker, Bailey Cadamarteri, who at one stage barged goalkeeper, Angus Gunn, off the ball and won a corner.

Anthony Musaba had a chance to level things up from close range only for the defender to do just enough to put him off, while Gunn pulled off a fine save to stop Michael Ihiekwe getting on the scoresheet. Wednesday were pushing, once again driven on by a midfield three of Will Vaulks, Barry Bannan and George Byers.

Norwich can be a threat, though, and with Wednesday pushing to level things up there was always going to be the threat of being counter-attacked. It was Ashley Barnes, with his depth of Premier League experience who went closest. After a good Owls period he found himself with space in the box, but watched his effort cannon off the crossbar and out.

The visitors weren’t deterred though, and pushed on. Vaulks’ delivery was a constant threat, both in terms of his crossing and his long throws, and it once again proved to be the case as his throw into the box found Ihiekwe’s head. ‘Icky’ flicked it into the mixer, and waiting to pounce was young Cadamarteri, fresh off the signing of a new long-term deal at Hillsborough.

It wasn’t the prettiest goal he’ll ever score, and not the toughest, but once more the talented teen was right where he needed to be, and once again he found the back of the net. Arms outspread he celebrated in front of the away end, Gladiator-esque as blood poured from his nose and mouth. ‘Are you not entertained?’

Such was the ebb and flow of the first half, with chances at both ends, time flew by in the opening 45 – a stark contrast to the first stanza against Stoke City. Seven minutes were added, and as the half time whistle went a draw was probably a fair result heading into the break.

But just like the first, the second half couldn’t have started much worse for Wednesday. Byers had been replaced by Marvin Johnson as Danny Röhl opted to switch to a back five, but within minutes they were behind again. Musaba lost the ball up top, and the Canaries swooped forward with a rapid break. Sainz turned creator this time, Barnes sliding in to finish off his cross from close range.

It was a goal that seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Owls. Conceding so early after switching things up will have been demoralising, and they never really seemed to recover. The hosts seemed happy to sit off them, let them have the ball, and aside from Callum Paterson hitting the side netting they succeeded at keeping them at bay.

And when they did get forward they looked dangerous, their attacking options looking to add another in order to put the game to bed. On 72 minutes they did just that, though it wasn’t a goal that Wednesday’s rearguard will want to watch back.

Dimitris Giannoulis clipped a ball into the box towards the near post, and the Canaries’ top scorer, Jonathan Rowe, was left to head goalwards. It was a tight angle, and his connection wasn’t ideal, but somehow it crept past Dawson’s left side and into the back of the net. 3-1 with 20 minutes to go, and Wednesday’s mini unbeaten run was coming to an end.

Djeidi Gassama and Pol Valentin were thrown into the mix by Röhl, a roll of the dice to try and give them a bit of a spark, but it didn’t seem to help. David Wagner’s side were comfortable, and Wednesday didn’t really have anything to change it. John Buckley and Ashley Fletcher were introduced with six minutes of normal time to play, but it was too little too late for the visitors.

10 minutes were added on, however there was to be no late drama this time around. Röhl cut a frustrated figure as he paced his technical area, hands in his pockets as he watched Paterson's header be saved by Gunn. Results on Tuesday had offered Wednesday a big chance to close the gap - unfortunately they didn't take it.