Preston North End 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday
- Published
Joe Garner scored 27 goals as Preston won promotion from League One last season, but has found goals harder to come by in the Championship
Preston moved into the Championship's top 10 after Joe Garner's goal saw them beat 10-man Sheffield Wednesday.
Striker Garner powerfully headed Calum Woods' cross past Keiren Westwood for his fourth goal of the season - and his first since December.
Six minutes before that, Wednesday's top-scorer Fernando Forestieri was sent off for a second yellow card.
The Italian was booked for a dive early in the second half before being penalised for a deliberate handball.
The loss was Wednesday's first in the league since 28 December and they dropped to sixth in the table, six points adrift of the automatic promotion places.
Garner's aerial prowess caused Wednesday problems throughout the match and he forced Westwood into a fine save midway through the first half and had a decent appeal for a penalty turned down soon after the break when he appeared to be pushed in the back
Daniel Pudil missed a good chance to give Wednesday the lead after an hour when he shot over from close range, while Tom Clarke's last-ditch tackle denied Lucas Joao from close range as the Owls searched for a late equaliser.
Preston boss Simon Grayson:
"We're delighted, we knew it would be a tough test for us.
"We challenged the players to get a win to kick off this week with three games. Every single one of them carried out the plan we've worked on all week.
"When we had to defend we defended and we limited a top team to not having a shot on target."
Sheffield Wednesday boss Carlos Carvalhal:
"The first yellow card is unbelievable because it was a clear foul to us and he gives a yellow to Fernando. If he doesn't go down he will be in front of goal in the area with a very clear chance to score. For me he didn't dive in that moment because if he did it was not a good choice. He blocked him.
"I am happy with the attitude of our players, they tried to win the game, but we are unhappy with the score of course.
"The fans were amazing again, the game was balanced, we both created chances and in the second half we looked as though we would score but the red card changed the game. Even with 10 players we took risks and the players fought until the last second to try and win the game."
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