Report: Owls outdone by on-song Saints

A dominant start was rewarded after just 17 minutes when James Bree continued his impressive return in a Saints shirt with a third goal in four games.

The one-way traffic yielded a second on the stroke of half-time, as Ryan Manning dispatched a trademark free-kick to put the visitors well on the way to three points.

Jerry Yates threatened to start a comeback when he reduced the arrears on 57 minutes, only for Taylor Harwood-Bellis to restore the two-goal advantage and ensure Eckert’s side would remain in seventh on the toes of Wrexham in sixth.

James Bree scored for the second game in a row (Photo: Cameron Smith)

The first of four away games in a fortnight and the final outing of a three-game week, Tonda Eckert made two changes to his engine room for the trip to Yorkshire.

Managing minutes, Flynn Downes dropped to the bench as Cam Bragg slotted in alongside Shea Charles, restored to the line-up to face the side he spent last season on loan at, in place of Caspar Jander who missed out through illness.

The German was left at home on the south coast along with Ross Stewart, who sat out as a precaution after feeling some muscle tightness.

Warmly welcomed back to Hillsborough, Charles tested the hospitableness of the home faithful after just three minutes when he got to Bree’s knockdown from a corner first, forcing Seny Dieng into a reaction save.

The early chance set the tone for what was to come, as the black and red shirts continued to flood forward, next testing Dieng on nine minutes.

A bursting run down the left from Leo Scienza ended with a ball to Finn Azaz who’d pulled into space in the box, cleverly laying off a first-time pass to Cyle Larin, who saw his shot well-saved from a tight angle six yards out.

There was to be no hat-trick of important saves, though, as Saints finally outmanoeuvred the Owls just before the 20-minute mark.

Scienza’s corner was only cleared back out to the Brazilian, with the winger’s second attempted cross having better joy, falling at the feet of Bree whose stabbed first-time strike came at Dieng too quickly to keep out.

With the Owls conceding the first goal on 22 other occasions this season without salvaging a single point, Bree’s opener sucked the belief out of Hillsborough to leave a sense of inevitability about the result.

As such, Eckert’s side remained on the front foot, probing for a second, but had to wait until four minutes before the break for their next meaningful chance.

Azaz, again Saints’ creative spark, threaded a ball through for Larin to race onto, taking a touch before dragging a shot wide of the far post under pressure from a recovering Gabriel Otegbayo.

Ryan Manning scored a third free-kick of the season (Photo: Cameron Smith)

As the game ticked into stoppage time, Saints gave themselves a cushion for the second 45 when Manning curled in a free-kick from the very edge of the box on the right-hand side to register a sixth goal of the season, a personal best tally.

Ending the half with a goal, the second almost began in the same fashion when Scienza had the chance to get in on the act.

Played in by Azaz, the winger cut in onto his right foot and attempted to pick out the bottom corner, instead finding Dieng with a tame effort.

With all signs suggesting the second half would merely be a formality, Wednesday struck out of nowhere to cause some uncomfortableness for Eckert’s side.

Only half-clearing a corner, Liam Palmer directed the ball back into the danger zone before Jamal Lowe’s flick-on was guided into the bottom corner by Yates for his first goal since joining the club in January.

Bringing the home crowd to life the goal triggered a good spell for the hosts, as Lowe forced Daniel Peretz into a fairly routine save having tried his luck from the edge of the box.

Keen to avoid a nervy finale, Saints got back on the front foot and almost inflicted a moment of déjà vu on the Owls, as Manning saw another free-kick go close, deflecting off of Lowe and narrowly flying over the crossbar.

From the resulting corner the two-goal lead was restored, as Scienza’s whipped in delivery flicked off of Kuryu Matsuki and fell kindly for Harwood-Bellis, who made no mistake from inside the six-yard box.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis rounded off the scoring (Photo: Cameron Smith)

With breathing space once again, Eckert looked to his bench in order to manage the minutes of his side, introducing Cameron Archer, Nathan Wood, Sam Edozie and Tom Fellows for Larin, Bree, Scienza and Matsuki.

One of which had the chance to notch a fourth for Saints, as Manning picked out the run of Edozie wide on the left, with the substitute’s eventual attempt from an acute angle only enough to hit the side-netting.

Showing spirit late on, the Owls ended the afternoon in the ascendancy as Peretz had to deny both Sean Fusire and Liam Palmer in stoppage time, but it wasn’t enough to derail a Saints side with momentum, maintaining their push for the play-offs.

Sheffield Wednesday: Dieng, Fusire (Grainger 90’+2), Iorfa (Emery 80’), Otegbayo, Palmer (c), Adaramola, Ingelsson, Chalobah (Thornton 46'), Lowe (Ndala 80’), McNeill, Yates.

Subs not used: Stretch, McGhee, Johnson, Nakamba, Moses.

Goals: Yates (57’).

Southampton: Peretz, Bree (Wood 74’), Harwood-Bellis, Stephens (c), Manning, Bragg (Romeu 89’), Charles, Matsuki (Fellows 81’), Azaz, Scienza (Edozie 81’), Larin (Archer 74’).

Subs not used: Long, Quarshie, Jelert, Downes.

Goals: Bree (17’), Manning (45’+1), Harwood-Bellis (71’).

Booked: Bragg.

Attendance: 23,850.

Referee: Gavin Ward.