Sheffield Wednesday 3 Bristol City 2 - Carlos Carvalhal praises battling qualities of Owls

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY head coach Carlos Carvalhal praised the character of his players after they came from 2-0 down to beat Bristol City at Hillsborough.
GET IN: Barry Bannan celebrates his equalising goal against Bristol City. Picture: Steve Ellis.GET IN: Barry Bannan celebrates his equalising goal against Bristol City. Picture: Steve Ellis.
GET IN: Barry Bannan celebrates his equalising goal against Bristol City. Picture: Steve Ellis.

Teenage striker Tammy Abraham scored twice to give the visitors a two-goal lead at the interval but goals from Steven Fletcher and Barry Bannan made it all-square before Kieran Lee struck a stoppage-time winner.

Carvalhal said: “It showed the character and the heart of the team. It was an exciting evening, but it was a very strange game for us.

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“Two-nil down at half-time was very heavy to us. I spoke very calmly to the players at half-time. It was important to speak calmly to them to explain how we could revert things.

GET IN: Barry Bannan celebrates his equalising goal against Bristol City. Picture: Steve Ellis.GET IN: Barry Bannan celebrates his equalising goal against Bristol City. Picture: Steve Ellis.
GET IN: Barry Bannan celebrates his equalising goal against Bristol City. Picture: Steve Ellis.

“I spoke more to the heart of the players because it wasn’t down to their attitude.

“My players received the message and we did fantastic in the second half. We tried to create problems for them in the second half with different players.

“We were lucky they didn’t score the penalty. At 2-1, the penalty miss was crucial.

“We needed to compose our defence and play with balance.

Sheffield Wednesday's David Jones beats Bristol City's Gary O'Neil. Picture: Steve Ellis.Sheffield Wednesday's David Jones beats Bristol City's Gary O'Neil. Picture: Steve Ellis.
Sheffield Wednesday's David Jones beats Bristol City's Gary O'Neil. Picture: Steve Ellis.
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“I don’t want to be in this situation in the future. We want to score first.”

Abraham (33) put the visitors ahead with a header from Gary O’Neil’s cross and he found the net again six minutes later, following up to head into the unguarded net after Westwood saved Josh Brownhill’s shot.

Fletcher (52) reduced the arrears when he scored after getting on the end of Fernando Forestieri’s corner.

Lee Tomlin hit the post with a penalty on the hour-mark after Sam Hutchinson’s foul on Marlon Pack, which also resulted in the Wednesday player being sent-off.

GET IN: Barry Bannan celebrates his equalising goal against Bristol City. Picture: Steve Ellis.GET IN: Barry Bannan celebrates his equalising goal against Bristol City. Picture: Steve Ellis.
GET IN: Barry Bannan celebrates his equalising goal against Bristol City. Picture: Steve Ellis.
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With the ball still in play, Wednesday looked to break, but Hooper was scythed down by O’Neil (61), who promptly received a red card.

Bannan struck a 75th-minute equaliser with a fine 30-yard effort and Lee produced a fine finish at the end to win it for Wednesday.

Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson said: “It was a bad dream, wasn’t it? It wasn’t bad luck because we should have scored a third goal from the penalty spot.

“The sending off of Gary O’Neil altered the course of the game. He won the ball cleanly and it was disappointing that he (the referee) got that wrong.

Sheffield Wednesday's David Jones beats Bristol City's Gary O'Neil. Picture: Steve Ellis.Sheffield Wednesday's David Jones beats Bristol City's Gary O'Neil. Picture: Steve Ellis.
Sheffield Wednesday's David Jones beats Bristol City's Gary O'Neil. Picture: Steve Ellis.
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“I thought we were excellent in the first half, slick and quick on the counter. We completely bossed them in the first half and they kept hitting a brick wall. They ran out of ideas.

“The most disappointing thing for me was a couple crumbled out of my lot. I see it in the mindset and it does happen. What you can’t do is freeze. You have to be brave and bold in everything you do.

“I’ve got no fears that the group will bounce back. Physically, technically and mentally they’ve got to handle it.”

Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood, Hunt, Lees, Hutchinson, Pudil (Forestieri 45), Bannan,Jones (Wallace 46), Lee, Reach, Hooper (Sasso 62), Fletcher. Subs Not Used: Wildsmith,Abdi,Palmer,Nuhiu.

Sent Off: Hutchinson (59).

Booked: Lee.

Goals: Fletcher 52, Bannan 75, Lee 90.

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Bristol City: O’Donnell, Little, Flint, Magnusson, Bryan, O’Neil, O’Dowda (Reid 82), Brownhill (Smith 72), Pack, Tomlin (Golbourne 64), Abraham. Subs Not Used: Ekstrand,Paterson,Fielding,Wilbraham.

Sent Off: O’Neil (61).

Booked: O’Neil, Flint.

Goals: Abraham 33, 39.

Att: 24,151

Referee: Darren Bond (Lancashire).