Sheffield Wednesday 0 Manchester City 1 - Owls restore some lost pride in FA Cup exit

For their part, Sheffield Wednesday could vouch for City’s might by way of a 7-0 spanking in the Capital One Cup in September 2014, with the likes of Rotherham United, Leeds United and Barnsley having also experienced the Mancunian’s modern-day disdain for lower-division opponents from the other side of the Roses divide.

There may have been some who would point to the examples of Wigan Athletic and Middlesbrough in proving that the blue side of Manchester are not infallible by administering Cup upsets in relatively recent times.

Yet that it is not accounting for Pep Guardiola’s insatiable appetite for silverware, sated only momentarily by an eighth trophy of his Etihad reign in Sunday’s Caraboa Cup success over Aston Villa at Wembley.

Given the fact that City’s hold on their Premier League crown has slipped and given the similar ravenous desire for trophies on the red half of Merseyside, the visitors were here for business.

Unlike some White Rose rivals, the Owls avoided a battering and even believed late on while in arrears but only narrowly.

Given everything that they were up against, Wednesday, in the midst of a painful 2020 thus far when chants of ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ had periodically filled the air – as recently as Saturday – got back in their fans’ good books.

That was evidenced in the warm response to their efforts at the final whistle, which contrasted starkly. This was respectable.

A couple of goals in the first 10 minutes from Everton quickly dashed Garry Monk’s hopes in his first home game under the lights – in the League Cup against the Toffees in the autumn.

Here, the tightness of the scoreline – with it taking City 53 minutes to make the breakthrough courtesy of Sergio Aguero – ensured the game was kept live and retained its cup tie element.

Wednesday – still in the game despite City’s dominance – almost had their moment 10 minutes from time when the outstretched left boot of substitute Steven Fletcher was mightily close to turning in a low cross from fellow replacement Alex Hunt.

This occasion was a far cry from those days back in the first half of the Nineties under the likes of Ron Atkinson and Trevor Francis when Wednesday faced their Roses visitors on a level playing field, but home supporters got their money’s worth from the hosts in terms of work-rate, organisation, application and character – far removed from some recent listless displays.

Blessed with mega options, City, as expected, possessed the threat, even if their passing radar was out of kilter at times.

Yet on-message Wednesday applied themselves admirably without the ball and a goalless scoreline at half-time was a minor triumph with their workaholic efforts appreciated.

A crunching challenge by Joey Pelupessy on David Silva also went down well as did an outrageous piece of skill in centre field by Barry Bannan which flummoxed City’s pair of Silva’s.

The Owls’ best moment came early when a drive from Jacob Murphy – playing in an unorthodox role as a wing-back in what amounted to a 5-3-2 system without the ball – fired wide.

City, wearing a garish yellow and peach strip, took their time to settle in and their failure to make a breakthrough was also enough to keep the Owls interested.

The visitors’ best moment saw Nicolas Otamendi’s header hit the crossbar from Rihaz Mahrez’s free-kick – with Joe Wildsmith, on his first start since August 2018, motionless.

Gabriel Jesus should have done better with an early header, while Mahrez also lacked composure when handed a clear sight of goal before firing into the Kop, yet it was not the wave after wave of incessant pressure that Wednesday were maybe fearing.

Feeding off scraps, Wednesday were in the game, although relieved when a swerving drive from Benjamin Mendy hit the woodwork before Wildsmith thwarted Bernando Silva.

The pressure was building and City were getting back in-character and their opener was not long in coming on 53 minutes.

Patient build-up ended with Mendy delivered a slide-rule pass to the untracked Aguero, with his low shot beating Wildsmith too easily, with the Owls keeper getting a weak hand to the effort, which was not pinpoint.

The obstinate refusal for a second goal to arrive was due to a combination of errant finishing and alert goalkeeping.

Mahrez fired wide and Wildsmith was called into action to make saves to deny Mahrez –twice – and Rodri.

The scoreline suggested Wednesday still had an semblance of hope going into the final quarter and Fletcher was inches away from making the night a whole lot more special.

Sheffield Wednesday: Wildsmith; Murphy, Palmer, Iorfa, Borner (Lees 45), Fox; Lee (Hunt 63), Pelupessy, Bannan; Forestieri (Fletcher 56, Da Cruz. Substitutes unused: Dawson, Urhoghide, Harris, Nuhiu.

Manchester City: Bravo; Cancelo, Stones, Otamendi, Mendy; Rodri, B Silva, D Silva; Mahrez, Aguero (Sterling 86), Jesus. Substitutes unused: Ederson, Garcia, Fernandinho, Zinchenko, Gundogan, Foden.

Referee: M Oliver (Northumberland).