Sheffield Wednesday vs Brentford. Sky Bet Championship.
HillsboroughAttendance22,475.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at Hillsborough
Saturday 7 December 2019 19:06, UK
Sheffield Wednesday moved into the Sky Bet Championship play-off spots after two second-half goals from Steven Fletcher gave them a 2-1 victory over Brentford at Hillsborough.
The Owls' top scorer took his tally to 10 for the season to complete a comeback victory after Bryan Mbuemo opened the scoring in the first half.
The result takes Wednesday above their rivals and up to sixth in the table, whilst the visitors remain ninth, two points adrift.
The hosts were unbeaten in six league matches at Hillsborough before the start, whilst the Bees had also won six out of the last eight league games.
Wednesday started brightly and almost took the lead in the opening minute, as Jacob Murphy's cross was nearly turned into his own net by Ethan Pinnock.
Both sides were cancelling each other out in an even contest, with neither goalkeeper made to make a save after 25 minutes.
The match felt as though it needed a goal, and Brentford did just that through Mbuemo in the 29th minute.
Mbuemo might have scored just before the goal after his volley went inches wide, but made no mistake from Josh Dasilva's corner as he headed in from close range to put Brentford one goal up.
The hosts looked to bounce back after conceding, with Murphy's low cross again causing trouble for the Bees' rear-guard, but Fletcher couldn't get on the end of it.
Atdhe Nuhiu also rose highest from a Kadeem Harris cross two minutes before the break, but his header sailed harmlessly over the bar.
Wednesday came out with a point to prove in the second half, as they spurned three golden chances within 10 minutes of the restart.
Morgan Fox's whipped cross found its way to Fletcher in the box, who controlled the ball well on his chest, but his acrobatic effort went wide of the mark.
Then Harris slid Murphy through on goal but the winger waited too long to shoot and his effort was blocked to safety.
The hosts' best chance of the game fell to top scorer Fletcher again, but Brentford goalkeeper David Raya did well to deny his effort at full stretch.
The Owls' pressure paid off in the 69th minute as Fletcher notched his ninth of the season from the penalty spot to level the scores.
Brentford's Rico Henry was adjudged to have handled the ball for the penalty, before the striker stepped up and coolly converted from the spot.
Wednesday's marksman struck again four minutes later as he controlled well from Harris' cross to turn inside and finish past goalkeeper Raya.
Brentford could've equalised in the 90th minute as Said Benrahma broke away from his defender, but his curled effort went agonisingly wide as Wednesday held on for all three points.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Garry Monk: "The players deserve huge credit for turning that game around from the position we were in. We know we were way below the levels that we expect in that first half, but speaking about that expectation at half-time and to come back against a hugely impressive side, the team deserve huge credit.
"When I came into the club, maybe there was a criticism that when they fall short of that level, they weren't able to come back from that type of situation. That was something we needed to change, and you can see with the determination these players have got, they want to do that as well."
Brentford boss Thomas Frank: "The most disappointing thing was that we lacked that 'coolness' in terms of sometimes just keeping the ball or sometimes go for the kill. We lacked quality and decision-making and that extra good touch or pass to make it two-nil.
"Then after the equaliser from a strange penalty, we needed to stay in the game. We were absolutely sleeping from that quick throw-in. In general, when you play so well in the first half you want at least a point, but football matches are 90 minutes and we need to do well enough over those 90 minutes but we didn't do that today."
