Sheffield Wednesday got back to winning ways at Hillsborough today, their first home win since the opening day, scoring three goals at S6 in a league game for the first time since March 2014.
The victory, and performance, will give the players and manager a real boost, while the three points pushes our league position to 14th after eight games.
It was good to see the boys not only creating, but taking, chances in the match, and the win could be a good building block for us going forward. Carlos Carvalhal will be a happy man.
Breakdown –
Passing:
In terms of pass success, Wednesday’s performance on Saturday was one of the worst of the season, finishing the match with just 66% compared to Fulham’s 79%. However, the Owls were much more clinical with their limited possession (40%/60%), making almost double the amount of key passes (9/5), despite making only 350 of the 923 passes on the day.
Ross Wallace, whose crossing was exceptional, grabbed all three Wednesday assists, made more key passes himself (6) than the entire Fulham side, and was successful with seven of his 10 crosses on the day. A very impressive return after coming in for Marco Mathias.
Five of the Cottagers’ players made more passes than Wednesday’s highest passer (Alex Lopez – 42), while Fernando Forestieri and Lucas Joao led the way for Wednesday in terms of completion (88.9%), a percentage only beaten by Ben Pringle (95.5%).
Offensive:
As previously mentioned, it’s nice to see Wednesday having less of the play but actually doing something with it. Despite the inferior possession, passing stats, Carvalhal’s side managed to have 10 shots to Fulham’s eight, getting five of them on target.
Barry Bannan, who has looked like a really good signing so far, had more shots (3) than any other Wednesday player, however no Owl managed to get more than one on target on the day.
It will come as no shock, yet again, that Atdhe Nuhiu won the most aerial battles on the field (6), however was joined on that tally by Fulham defender, Richard Stearman. He, along with Joao, were also two of the most fouled players on the field (3).
Defensive:
Kieran Lee and Bannan fought the good fight in midfield, winning the most tackles of anyone on the pitch (4), making sure that the Owls kept winning the ball back and breaking down Fulham attacks. In fact, as a whole, Wednesday made nearly double the amount of successful tackles as their opponents (16/9).
In the centre of defence, Tom Lees and Michael Turner, made their presence known by leading the clearances chart with five each, making more clearances between them than the whole Fulham side. This, of course, on top of their goals at the other end.
Jack Hunt was caught out a couple of times at full back, being dribbled past twice, while Fulham’s O’Hara (3) led the way in terms of interceptions at Hillsborough.
Summary:
Wednesday had vastly less possession, made less passes, had a lower pass completion rate and less touches on the ball, however were a lot more economic in their usage of the ball.
Despite the aforementioned stats, SWFC had more shots, made more key passes and won more corners, scoring three goals from five shots on target. A very good return, especially given how woeful we have been in front of goal of late.
Add to that the fact that we led to way in tackles and clearances, and I’d say it was a pretty good overall performance, even if we did cut it close by letting it get to 3-2.
Best Of The Best*
Most Passes – Jamie O’Hara (FFC) – 103
Best Pass Completion – Ben Pringle (FFC) – 95%
Most Successful Dribbles – Jamie O’Hara (FFC) – 3
Most Successful Tackles – Kieran Lee/Barry Bannan (SWFC) – 4
Most Key Passes – Ross Wallace (SWFC) – 6
Most Interceptions – Jamie O’Hara (FFC) – 3
Most Crosses – Ross Wallace (SWFC) – 10
All stats via WhoScored.com
*Played more than 15 minutes