CARDIFF CITY 1
Davies 21
SHEFFIELD WED 1
Ihiekwe 61
Danny Rohl praised his Sheffield Wednesday side’s resilience on the road as they picked up another point on their travels with a draw against Championship side Cardiff City.
The Bluebirds had dominated the first half and sped into a 1-0 lead through a goal from Isaak Davies, but three changes in the break by Rohl turned the tide.
In the second half, the Owls were a different side, and a goal from a corner courtesy of the impressive Michael Ihiekwe got Wednesday back on level terms.
The result made it nine wins and three draws in 20 away matches for Rohl’s men this season.
Incredible
He said: “Our away performances have been incredible this season, even though we only took a point today.
“Last season, we finished with 53 points; now we have 52 points with seven games to get a lot more points,” said Rohl.
“We have reduced the gap from six to five points to the playoffs; it means we look up, and I want to see a team who attack the next position.
“We have nothing to lose now, we can go all in.
“Second half today, we went all in, but in the Championship, this is not enough to win a game.”
“I think this result was fair for both teams.
“At this stage of the season, it’s not an easy game, and in the first half we felt that playing against a team fighting for their life to stay in the league,” added Rohl.
“I saw a team in the second half on the front foot, creating pressure and moments.
“It was exactly the game I expected.”
PLAYING FOR KICKS: Wednesday’s Dominic Iorfa attempts to clear
Match action
Before the game, Rohl suggested it would take six wins out of the remaining eight games for his side to reach play-offs.
Cardiff City boss Omer Riza picked a side with three wide men behind sole striker Yousef Salech to give his team the best chance to make it back-to-back wins after their triumph last time at Blackburn Rovers.
It was one of those three players, Davies, who made the biggest impression as he came up with the goal that broke the deadlock in the 21st minute.
He had fluffed his lines with another chance ten minutes earlier when he was free in front of goal.
But he finished off a sweeping move in style as he cut in from the right edge of the box before firing with his left foot into the bottom corner.
Second half
Rohl made three changes during the interval, hooking Rio Hatsuse, Jamal Lowe and Nathaniel Chalobah, and sending on Marvin Johnson, Shea Charles and Svante Ingelsson.
Wednesday went up two gears and levelled just past the hour mark.
A corner from the left was met with a firm header in the middle of the goal by Ihiekwe and Ethan Horvath had no chance of stopping it.
That inspired both teams to keep pressing forward for a winner.
Charles was forced into a diving effort to push a Davies shot clear and then Salech headed narrowly wide soon after.
Anwar El Ghazi had one final forlorn shot just before the end of the three minutes of added time for the home side.
Cardiff City
Omer Riza is proud of his Cardiff City troops
Championship
OLIVER’S SET FOR BIG STEP
