Sheffield Wednesday 1 Reading 1 - Draw seems like a win for 10-man Owls

It is why his sombre expression and declaration on a dank Saturday evening at Hillsborough four days earlier that his latest position at Sheffield Wednesday was going to be a ‘tough gig’ spoke volumes.

January is a time when Pulis can start truly building a side in his own image, but that is some way in the distance given a glut of games this month, with the veteran manager entrusted with finding some precious shafts of light before then.

That arrived last night in the toughest of circumstances, even if Pulis’s wait for a first league win extends now to a fifth game.

Given that his side played with 10 men for over 60 minutes after teenage midfielder Liam Shaw became the fifth Owls player to be dismissed this season, the fact they managed to prevent the high-flying visitors from securing the victory which would have seen them move to the summit was laudable. It will have felt like a win for the hosts at the final whistle.

It could well be an important psychological point in the club’s season as Wednesday claimed a heroic point after being well and truly up against it for the entire second half especially.

For their tenacity, heart and resolve amid considerable adversity, how the hosts merited it.

Earlier, Shaw had cut a devastated figure when he received his marching orders on the half-hour for a strong and rash tackle on Omar Richards.

Having just given the ball away, Shaw sought to make amends and took the ball, but cleaned out the player with his trailing leg with a robust challenge in the process.

Rightly or wrongly, it is the sort which is instantly frowned upon in the modern climate by referees and was always likely to always draw censure.

It was a moment that the 19-year-old will learn from, but it had the effect of changing the course of the night with Reading restoring parity through ex-Wednesday forward Lucas Joao’s 13th goal of the season which cancelled out a wonderful opener from Callum Paterson.

Never one to panic, Pulis is the sort of manager who will have been here before with protecting a result being something that the Welshman has proved a master at in his career and so it proved again.

The Owls chief did not mess about at the break, with Dominic Iorfa and Moses Odubajo arriving to beef up his backline and Joey Pelupessy replacing Barry Bannan to add another defensive midfield option alongside Massimo Luongo.

Try as they might, Reading could not breach the rigid blue and white wall.

The praise earlier arrived thanks to a wonderful team goal which was finished by a well-executed downward header from Paterson following a fabulous left-wing cross from Adam Reach after just 12 minutes.

But on his first appearance against the Owls since his move almost 16 months ago, Joao had his moment when got away from Paterson to nod in a curling free-kick from Ovie Ejaria at the back post just before the break.

The Portuguese forward, who spurned a golden early chance when sent clear, neglected the chance to celebrate out of respect for his former club.

Going into the game, only Preston had scored fewer home goals this season than the Owls’ total of three, although on the flip side, Wednesday’s concession of just four goals at Hillsborough was the second best defensive home record in the division.

The smart money was on a low-scoring spectacle and perhaps an uneventful one, but in the event, the sight of goals at each end in the opening 45 minutes represented a harvest. It showcased counter-attacking at its best with Wednesday’s first goal at Hillsborough in the Pulis era being one to remember.

After that, stoic Wednesday dug deep and retreated amid a Reading onslaught and the pressure told when Joao struck. It was a goal which had been coming with Reading – who hit the post in the 20th minute following a fine curling free-kick from Michael Olise – going desperately close to levelling when Reach made a miraculous goalline clearance to deny a tap-in for Tom Holmes.

Joe Wildsmith also produced a fine reaction save to tip over Alfa Semedo’s volley before Wednesday’s resistance was broken.

Understandably, Wednesday set their stall out to be hard to break down and get men behind the ball in a 4-4-1 formation with Paterson dropping back into midfield and Harris ploughing a lone furrow up front.

Wednesday walked a tightrope, with Olise, Ejiaria and Laurent all going close, while also surviving a couple of penalty appeals before the relief of the final whistle.

Sheffield Wednesday: Wildsmith; Palmer (Odubajo 45), Lees, Borner, Van Aken (Pelupessy 45); Harris (Kachunga 90), Luongo, Shaw, Bannan (Iorfa 45), Reach; Paterson: Substitutes unused: Dawson, Penney, Dele-Bashiru, Rhodes, Brown.

Reading: Cabral; Holmes (Esteves 70), Moore, Morrison, Richards; Rinomhata (Aluko 70), Laurent; Ejaria, Olise (Baldock 75), Semedo; Joao. Substitutes unused: Walker, McIntyre, Gibson, Tetek, Watson, Onen.

Referee: O Langford (West Midlands).

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