Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Coventry City: Ben Sheaf double secures Sky Blues win
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Ben Sheaf's superb curling effort put Coventry City ahead
Ben Sheaf scored twice as Coventry City's excellent Championship form continued with victory over struggling Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
Sheaf's superb curling effort from outside the penalty area put the Sky Blues ahead shortly before half-time.
The Coventry skipper doubled the lead not long after the restart as he turned in from close range after Tatsuhiro Sakamoto's shot had been saved.
Wednesday's Josh Windass blasted home from close range soon after as the Owls tried to salvage a point.
But Coventry held on to follow up last week's impressive 3-1 victory over leaders Leicester City, as they won for the seventh time in a 10-game unbeaten run across all competitions.
The win moves the Sky Blues back into the final play-off place, while a second successive defeat for Wednesday sees them drop to second-bottom after Queens Park Rangers' win over Millwall.
Marvin Johnson - linked with a move to Ipswich - looked dangerous for the Owls down the left but his side struggled to create any clear cut chances in the first half, as an early Djeidi Gassama effort went wide and Windass headed a tame effort straight into the arms of Bradley Collins.
Sheaf spectacularly opened the scoring as he beat his man, switched the ball to his right foot 20 yards out and curled a wonderful effort that left debutant goalkeeper James Beadle with no chance.
Wednesday started the second half well, as Barry Bannan tried to lob the onrushing Collins soon after the restart, but his effort from the right of the penalty area cleared the bar.
The Sky Blues got what proved to be the decisive goal when Sheaf - who had only scored seven times for Coventry since joining in July 2021 - reacted quickest to get his second.
Wednesday boss Danny Rohl responded with a quadruple change and the momentum switched as Johnson's excellent cross saw one of the substitutes Anthony Musaba have a header saved, and Windass was on hand to smash the ball home.
Another of the changes, Bailey Cadamarteri, should have levelled the scores three minutes later as he headed another excellent Johnson cross wide.
But Coventry did well to calm the game down and almost went 3-1 up when Ellis Simms flashed an 81st-minute effort across the face of goal.
Mark Robins' side held on to ensure a sixth win in their last seven matches in all competitions, despite a late goalmouth scramble that saw Mallik Wilks miss the chance to equalise.
Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"We tried everything, we invested in the game, in the first half both sides didn't have too many chances and then we conceded a goal that was a fantastic finish.
"Then second half we tried again and then conceded a second that wasn't necessary again as we had enough time to come behind the ball, it was a bit unlucky, it was the second shot on goal.
"We came back with the goal and we were still trying and had a big chance with Bailey.
"But at the end we tried everything, but it wasn't enough and that's the reason why we are disappointed today."
Coventry City manager Mark Robins told BBC Coventry and Warwickshire:
"I think we've come out of it on the right end of a good scoreline and I think there's been some brilliant performances within it.
"I think Ben Sheaf was outstanding, not just the goals that he scored, but it was an all-action performance from him - he broke play up, got us moving forward and he's weighed in.
"You can't ignore the goals because they were outstanding, the first one particularly.
"But the second one was a different type - he's arrived in the penalty area and it was a player that I played with that looked exactly like that, and it was Bryan Robson. I thought he was outstanding today."
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