Stoke City 2 Sheffield Wednesday 0: Owls fight hard but come up short against Potters

AFTER seeing off sides from either end of the Premier League in this season’s League Cup, Sheffield Wednesday last night found the epitome of a solid, reliable top-flight outfit a step too far.
Stoke Citys Erik Pieters, left, and Sheffield Wednesdays Gary Hooper battle for supremacy in the air at Britannia Stadium last night (Picture: Nigel French/PA).Stoke Citys Erik Pieters, left, and Sheffield Wednesdays Gary Hooper battle for supremacy in the air at Britannia Stadium last night (Picture: Nigel French/PA).
Stoke Citys Erik Pieters, left, and Sheffield Wednesdays Gary Hooper battle for supremacy in the air at Britannia Stadium last night (Picture: Nigel French/PA).

Ibrahim Afellay’s maiden goal in English football and a 30-yard effort from Phil Bardsley sent Stoke City through to the semi-finals and ensured the Owls’ first appearance in the quarter-finals for 14 years ended in disappointment.

The Championship side gave it everything and had a concerted spell of pressure around the hour mark to fire the dreams of the noisy 4,638-strong travelling army of fans from Yorkshire that another upset could be on the cards.

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Stoke, however, rarely looked like buckling to end any hopes Owls’ head coach Carlos Carvalhal had of emulating his feat of 2008 when he led Vitoria Setubal to League Cup success in his native Portugal.

Safe passage to the last four was deserved reward for the professional manner in which Stoke had approached the tie.

Unlike many of their top-flight brethren in this season’s League Cup, Stoke rarely look like a club capable of displaying complacency and that was certainly the case against Carvalhal’s men.

Certainly, Wednesday have rarely had their heels snapped at quite as frequently this term as they did last night in the Potteries.

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Mark Hughes’s men simply refused to let the Owls settle in the manner that Newcastle United and Arsenal had done in earlier rounds en route to being knocked out by the Yorkshire club.

Of course, work rate and determination have been readily associated with Stoke ever since they arrived in the Premier League under Tony Pulis in 2008.

What Hughes has done, though, is add more polish to their attacking play and that quality was never better illustrated than when the deadlock was broken on the half hour.

Joselu showed great skill out wide on the right to weave his way towards the touchline before chipping a cross that was just begging someone to meet it sweetly.

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Afellay answered the call with a volley that Joe Wildsmith stood little chance of stopping.

A minute or so earlier, Wildsmith had saved a low 30-yard drive from Marco van Ginkel and the Owls’ goalkeeper spared his side again shortly before half-time.

A woefully under-hit back pass from Daniel Pudil, who had replaced Tom Lees a couple of minutes earlier, looked to have let Jonathan Walters in only for Wildsmith to race from his area and clear the ball into the main stand.

Wildsmith was again called into action just before the hour to deny Joselu before Modou Sougou threw himself in front of Afellay’s follow-up to prevent the Dutch-born midfielder from netting his second goal in Stoke colours.

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The let-off appeared to spark the visitors into life. Up to that point, the best Wednesday had managed was a swift counter-attack in the first half that ended with Kieran Lee whipping in a cross that was slightly behind Gary Hooper.

The loanee from Norwich City did attempt to make the best of the opening with a bicycle kick, but managed only minimal contact and Stoke cleared.

Hooper also had a shot charged down early in the second half before Wednesday were finally able to stamp their attacking mark on proceedings as the tie passed the hour mark.

First, Ross Wallace found sufficient space on the right to drill in a low cross that Lucas Joao tried to turn goalwards.

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A desperate Stoke block denied the Portuguese and the same fate awaited Lee just moments later.

Pudil then went very close to snatching an equaliser with a smart turn and shot that flew fractionally wide of Jack Butland’s post with the England goalkeeper well beaten.

As the visiting fans in the 26,779 crowd cranked up the noise level, hopes rose that Wednesday’s Cup odyssey might be extended into a first semi-final appearance since 2002.

Pudil’s effort proved, however, to be merely the prelude to Stoke settling matters as Bardsley collected a short free-kick from Marco van Ginkel to drill a low shot that exposed a badly positioned defensive wall, the ball arrowing into the bottom corner of Wildsmith’s net.

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There was no way back after that, but Wednesday kept going, much to the approval of the travelling fans who gave their side a standing ovation at the final whistle.

Stoke City: Butland; Johnson (Bardsley 46); Wilson, Wollscheid, Pieters; Cameron, van Ginkel; Walters, Afellay, Arnautovic (Whelan 88); Crouch (Joselu 11). Unused substitutes: Haugaard, Adam, Shaqiri, Bojan.

Sheffield Wednesday: Wildsmith; Hunt (McGugan 46), Lees (Pudil 34), Loovens (Nuhiu 77), Wiggins; Wallace, Lee, Hutchinson, Sougou; Hooper, Joao. Unused substitutes: Price, Semedo, Helan, Lopez, Pudil.

Referee: J Moss (West Yorkshire).