Goals galore at Hillsborough as Sheffield Wednesday put Burton Albion to the sword

Barry Bannan opened the scoring for Wednesday with a fine finish, before Michael Smith doubled things up from the spot. Mallik Wilks made things 3-0 early in the second half and then the game was well and truly put to bed by Fisayo Dele-Bashiru 15 minutes left to go.

Burton, however, hadn’t got the memo that they were dead and buried though, and Sam Winnall and Thomas Hamer scored in a busy six minute spell that made things interesting. The Owls did settle themselves down though, and a late equaliser from Charlton Athletic elsewhere meant that they’re now just three points behind second-placed Ipswich Town.

The starting XI and pressure

Before the game had even kicked off the pressure seemed to have ramped up off the field… Moore’s decision to not just make five changes, but also change the formation entirely into – what looked like – a 4-1-2-3 formation with Tyreeq Bakinson in front of the back four and Mallik Wilks/Callum Paterson either side of Michael Smith.

The changes, of which only one was technically forced due to Michael Ihiekwe’s suspension, raised lots of eyebrows when they were announced at 2pm, and it felt like things could get a bit vitriolic if Wednesday didn’t have three points by the time the final whistle was blown.

But Moore picked a side to win the game, even if he did make some big calls, and win the game they did. He’ll feel justified in his selection, and it will certainly have kept some of the doubters at bay for a while longer.

Fine margins, and all that…

It was a bit of a strange game of football, really. The first half saw a Wednesday team that – though they weren’t really threatened – didn’t properly impress, however took the two real chances that came their way and completely knocked the stuffing out of Burton.

The Brewers were giving as good as they got up until Bannan’s tremendous opener, and then a quickfire second pretty much put the game to bed.

Wednesday actually played better against both Lincoln City and Bristol Rovers, but today they took their chances and didn’t allow their opponents to get a foothold in the game.

If they’d gone up 2-0 in either of those games it’d have been the same end result, you’d think. So while in many ways things were a bit underwhelming, three points are three points. It was four goals in the end, but Wednesday missed a penalty through Lee Gregory and Callum Paterson hit the crossbar – it probably should have been more.

Complacency, maybe?

Not to complain too much about a 4-2 victory, but there is certainly a worry for Moore that they did let the wheels come off a little bit towards the end of the game… They were cruising at 4-0 and should really have picked up another clean sheet, but alas, the three points alone will have to do.

Was it complacency? Was it down to the mass changes made? A win is a win, but the Wednesday manager will almost certainly be asking some questions of his players after it.