Sheffield Wednesday 1 Ipswich Town 1: Owls display pleases boss Carlos Carvalhal

Sheffield Wednesday were left frustrated by Ipswich Town and 16-year-old Jason Dozell at Hillsborough.
Owls skipper Glenn Loovens consoles Barry BannanOwls skipper Glenn Loovens consoles Barry Bannan
Owls skipper Glenn Loovens consoles Barry Bannan

Fernando Forestieri had put the Owls ahead three minutes before half-time, but Dozzell - son of former Ipswich star Jason - levelled 20 minutes from time on his debut.

The result left the sixth-placed home team five points clear of Cardiff, who were held to a goalless home draw by QPR in the Sky Bet Championship.

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The visitors had the first opportunity in the fifth minute when Freddie Sears beat the offside trap and forced a smart near-post save from Wednesday goalkeeper Kieren Westwood.

Sheffield Wednesday.Sheffield Wednesday.
Sheffield Wednesday.

In the ninth minute, Wednesday defender Daniel Pudil headed over a Ross Wallace corner from inside the six-yard box.

A Westwood clearance then created all sorts of havoc for the Ipswich defence and Lucas Joao was unlucky to see his shot go wide of the post.

The striker was put through on goal again in the 20th minute but he could not beat keeper Bartosz Bialkowski from close range after a Pudil through ball.

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In the 27th minute, centre-back Tom Lees headed Wallace’s far-post corner wide of the post.

Sheffield Wednesday.Sheffield Wednesday.
Sheffield Wednesday.

The busy Barry Bannan was a constant threat to the Ipswich back line and flashed the ball wide of the right-hand post in the 38th minute after being played in by Joao.

Forestieri gave Wednesday the lead in the 42nd minute, smashing home his 15th goal of the season from close range after Christophe Berra failed to clear a Wallace cross from the left.

The Wednesday forward was clearly in the mood and he produced a sublime piece of individual skill to take on a Joao header and flick the ball over Tommy Smith before shooting just over the bar.

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Minutes later, the club’s top scorer hit another strike over the bar, this time from the edge of the area.

Bannan wasted a golden opportunity to add to the hosts’ lead in the 65th minute after he was put through on goal by Joao. His tame effort was easily gathered by Bialkowski.

And soon after the away side were back on level terms through young debutant Dozzell, who headed in a Liam Feeney cross from close range.

Wednesday responded and Joao had a stinging low drive pushed wide of the post by Bialkowski.

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David McGoldrick struck a low effort straight down the throat of Westwood after a quick break in the 86th minute.

A minute later, Wallace had a fierce shot parried by Bialkowski, who then managed to get up and smother the ball from in front of on-rushing substitute Gary Hooper.

A mix-up between defender Luke Chambers and Bialkowski almost led to a comical own goal as the latter smashed the ball aimlessly at his team-mate and was lucky to see it go just wide of the post.

Wallace was denied again in the 90th minute from the edge of the area as Wednesday were frustrated.

Wednesday head coach Carlos Carvalhal was frustrated.

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Carvalhal said: “I see positives and negatives about this game - the score was the negative, the positive was how we reacted after the last game, and the way we responded after Ipswich’s goal.

“We played against a strong opponent, one which had ambitions of promotion at the start of the season. We are in a better position than we were before the game. We have a five-point gap over Cardiff.

“We’d prefer the win but, for me, it’s the way you win, draw or lose. The way we drew today is a positive. We drew because we missed a lot of chances, not because we didn’t create any.

“We showed we were a consistent team today and played our football. The first 20 minutes weren’t great but after that we played good football.

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“We are in a good position now. I talk about reality and the reality is that we must win games. This is a crucial week and we must concentrate on the next game.”

Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy said: “It’s a good point but it doesn’t do us much good apart from that it gives us a bit of comfort that we’ve got a squad of lads who want to scrap, to play, to fight in a game which could have easily got away from us.

“Good genes produce good players and Andre (Dozzell) is a good player. I thought he deserved his opportunity. I always said that if we got to the end of the season and it looked like it had drifted away from us, I’d give him a chance.

“I’m always disappointed when we don’t meet our expectations, my personal expectations. I thought we could have been a top-six side this season.

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“We’ve suffered a lot of injuries and it’s affected us. We’ve had a bad four or five weeks. We’ve had a tough time, and it’s finished off our season.”

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