Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Morecambe
Sky Bet League One
Hillsborough
Tuesday 1 February
Kick-Off: 7:45pm
Attendance: 19,261
Two second half goals courtesy of George Byers and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing proved enough for Wednesday to claim all three points.
The first chance of the game fell the way of the hosts after nine minutes when a quick free kick found Josh Windass inside the box, but his stinging shot from the angle at close range was blocked superbly by Trevor Carson.
Eight minutes later and Mendez-Laing played a neat one-two to find himself in possession just outside the box, but his effort was scuffed over the crossbar without testing Carson in the Morecambe goal.
The Shrimps’ first chance of the game came on 19 minutes when some nice build up play saw the ball reach the path of Stockton, but Morecambe’s leading scorer was in an offside position as he slotted the ball home.
Unable to carry on as a result of his early save, Carson made way for substitute shot stopper Kyle Letheren on 23 minutes.
A huge change for Wednesday came on 38 minutes when Mendez-Laing picked up possession and drove forwards, played a one-two inside the box and looked certain to find the back of the net, but a last-ditch block from Ryan Cooney denied the hosts.
The South-Yorkshire side did have the ball in the back of the net on three minutes later, after Marvin Johnson side-footed a volley beyond Letheren on the angle, but the linesman’s flag on the far side came put a premature end to the Owls’ celebrations.
Moments after the Fourth Official’s board indicated a minimum of seven minutes added on at the end of the first half, a powerful strike from distance courtesy of Windass sailed harmlessly over the target.
Three minutes before the half-time whistle and it was that man Windass again who came close for Wednesday, but his headed attempt was always going away from goal.
Half-time: Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Morecambe
Four minutes into the second half and the Owls had another goal chalked out, Florian Kamberi this time judged to be in an offside position as he headed home from a shortly-taken corner.
Wednesday did open the scoring however on 54 minutes, Byers latched on to a pass from Barry Bannan, set himself with one touch before rocketing a shot into the top right corner.
Shouts for a Shrimps’ penalty were waved away by referee Ollie Yates when Bailey Peacock-Farrell tackled Jacob Bedeau in the box on 75 minutes, the referee deciding the goalkeeper made a fair challenge on the defender.
A speculative strike from Adam Phillips on 81 minutes had plenty of power, but the midfielder couldn’t keep his shot down and it sailed into the Morecambe faithful behind the goal.
Stephen Robinson’s men came agonisingly close to an equaliser three minutes later when a goal-line scramble ensued, but efforts from Stockton, Obika and O’Connor couldn’t find the back of the net.
Seconds later and Phillips nearly forced the ball home after closing down Peacock-Farrell and blocking an attempted clearance, but the ball rolled slowly behind for a goal kick.
The points were rounded up for the hosts in the first minute of time added on at the end of the second half when Mendez-Laing’s strike took a deflection and found its way to the back of the Morecambe net.
Full-time: Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Morecambe
Sheffield Wednesday: Peacock-Farrell, Hutchinson, Bannan, Windass (Berahino, 74’), Byers, Dean (Palmer, 7’), Dele-Bashiru (Paterson, 46’), Johnson, Kamberi (Sow, 66’), Storey, Mendez-Laing
Subs not used: Wildsmith, Hunt, Brennan
Goals: Byers 54’, Mendez-Laing 90+1’
Bookings: Hutchinson 83’
Red cards: None
Morecambe: Carson (Letheren, 23’), McLaughlin, O’Connor, Bedeau, Diagouraga, Stockton, Ayunga (Obika, 80’), Phillips, McLoughlin, Cooney (Connolly, 80’), Gnahoua (Bennett, 46’)
Subs not used: Wildig, McCalmont, Fane
Goals: None
Bookings: McLaughlin 51’
Red cards: None