Wednesday’s good run of form came to crashing to a halt against Wigan Athletic at a chilly Hillsborough on Tuesday night.
The Owls went into the game on the back of an eleven-match unbeaten run but goals from Nicky Maynard, Martyn Waghorn and Marc-Antoine Fortune gave the Latics all three points.
The match was played at the second time of asking after the initial clash bad in December was postponed at half-time due to a waterlogged pitch with the visitors leading 1-0.
Uwe Rosler’s side were keen to hit the ground running and they did just that, although Maynard’s opener came somewhat against the run of play. It knocked the stuffing out of the Owls, however, and Maynard floated a corner kick straight into the back of the net just seven minutes later to put the Lancastrians well in control.
The Owls were buoyed by a 2-0 win at Reading at the weekend and boss Stuart Gray, Rosler’s former manager at Southampton, handed a debut to Cardiff City loan man, Adedeji Oshilaja, was received international clearance in time to play.
Chances were few and far between in the opening 20 minutes but the Owls carved out two good chances to take the lead – chances they were later made to pay for missing.
First, Atdhe Nuhiu did well to rob the ball from Leon Barnett but he shot straight at visiting goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi when he should have done better. Then, Benik Afobe, who scored his first Owls goal at the weekend following a loan move from Arsenal, slipped at the vital time following a good run.
So when Athletic went down the other end and scored from their next attack it knocked the hosts off their stride. Maynard was the man to get it, thumping a powerful shot beyond Owls stopper Chris Kirkland to open the scoring just before the half-hour mark.
That lead was doubled shortly after when Waghorn, on-loan from Leicester City, swung a corner that flew straight in to give Wigan a strong hold of the contest at half-time.
Gray looked to change things shortly after the restart and brought on Jeremy Helan and Michail Antonio to try and add some more spark to the Owls’ forward play but Wigan remain stubborn at the back.
El Habsi was still worked, denying Helan’s low shot before grasping hold of an effort from Miguel Llera as the hosts looked for a way back into the game.
Nuhiu and Chris Maguire had further chances for Wednesday, who continued to battle away, but Atheltic hung on and add icing to their cake in stoppage time when Fortune made it 3-0.
Wednesday: Kirkland, Palmer, Oshilaja, Llera, Mattock, Maguire, Lee, Semedo (Lavery 64), Maghoma (Antonio 55), Nuhiu, Afobe (Helan 55)
Wigan: Al Habsi, McCann, Watson, McClean (Fortune 51), McArthur (Kiernan 88), Boyce, Beausejour, Perch, Barnett, Maynard, Waghorn (Crainey 81).
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