A first half brace for Jack Clarke after Dan Ballard had opened the scoring within five minutes of kick off saw Wednesday almost dead and buried by the time the whistle went on 45 minutes, and the visitors were excellent value for their lead in a game that they almost completely dominated.
Tony Mowbray’s side didn’t trouble the Owls goal much in the second half, but they didn’t really have to - they’d got the job done in the opening stanza and just had to keep hold of the ball to see out the victory, which they did with ease.
Here’s how we rated the players on a torrid night at Hillsborough:
5. Akin Famewo - 4
Similarly to Bernard, Famewo was tidy enough in possession and largely did his job well defensively. Still a tough night at the office though. | UGC / Steve Ellis
6. Callum Paterson - 4
A scrapping display by the Scot, who was asked to play out of position on the left hand side. Won loads of tackles and came closest to scoring for Wednesday. | UGC / Steve Ellis
7. George Byers - 3
Wore the captain’s armband in Bannan’s absence, but it won’t be an evening that he’ll remember fondly. Put himself about as always, and nearly scored late on. | Getty / UGC
8. Jeff Hendrick - 2
The game seemed to pass him by in midfield, had next to no impact as Sunderland ran things for almost an entire 90 minutes. | Steve Ellis / UGC