Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Stockport County: Owls Hold Firm But Stockport Dominate the Chances
SportSignals Match Desk ยท Football analysis desk ยท
Sheffield Wednesday and Stockport County shared the spoils in a League One clash that finished 0-0, but do not let the scoreline fool you. This was not a match where both teams cancelled each other out equally. Stockport were the more threatening side for long stretches, and Wednesday should count themselves fortunate to have walked away with a clean sheet. Let me tell you why.
Stockport Did Enough to Win This Game
The thing is, when you look at the numbers from this match, they tell a very clear story. Stockport had 18 shots in total to Wednesday's six. They put 14 of those shots inside the box. They created three big chances and missed all three. Three. That is the difference between a comfortable away win and a point that Wednesday will take and not examine too closely.
Stockport also had 13 key passes to Wednesday's two. Thirteen. Wednesday managed two key passes in ninety minutes at home. That is not a creative performance. That is a team sitting deep, getting bodies behind the ball, and hoping the opposition miss their chances. On this occasion, that gamble paid off. It will not always.
Listen, I am not one to hide from the basics. Wednesday's goalkeeper kept them in this game. Stockport hit the woodwork once and had their two shots on target saved. The home side made two saves all afternoon. Wednesday defenders made nine interceptions and 15 tackles, which shows there was genuine work and desire from the back line. They competed when it mattered. But they were hanging on.
Wednesday's Attacking Display Was Unacceptable
Six shots. One big chance created. Two shots on target. That is the attacking output of a home side in League One on a Saturday afternoon. It is not good enough. End of.
Wednesday completed 359 passes at a 79 per cent success rate. Stockport completed 429 at 85 per cent. Wednesday played 62 long passes, which tells you everything about their intention. They were not trying to build through the lines. They were lumping it. That approach might grind out a result occasionally, but it rarely wins football matches, and it certainly does not build anything worth talking about.
Stockport controlled possession at 52 to 48 per cent. It was close enough that you cannot say Wednesday were entirely pinned back, but the quality of what Stockport did with the ball compared to what Wednesday did with theirs was not close at all. Thirteen key passes to two. That gap speaks plainly.
The Disciplinary Problems Are a Concern for Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday picked up three yellow cards during the match. Reece James was booked for a foul in the 27th minute. Liam Cooper was shown a card in the 68th minute for an argument, which is the sort of thing that costs you when you are already under pressure. Yan Valery rounded off the afternoon with a booking deep into stoppage time for a foul.
Three yellow cards in a game you spent defending tells you that the pressure was real. Teams do not foul their way through ninety minutes unless they are genuinely struggling to cope with what is coming at them. Wednesday's players deserve credit for their desire and their willingness to compete, but the standards of discipline need to be better. You cannot keep getting away with that.
Stockport's only yellow card came in the 58th minute when Eoghan O'Connell was booked for a foul. Controlled aggression. That is what you want from your side.
The Substitutions Told a Story Too
Wednesday's manager brought on Kieran Morrison for Davis Keillor-Dunn at the 65-minute mark and then made late changes bringing on Jaden Heskey and Gabriel Otegbayo in the 86th minute as Barry Bannan and Ricardo Santos made way. The Heskey introduction in particular suggested a late swing for something direct, but with only four minutes of normal time left at that point, it was too little too late.
Stockport were more proactive. Jason Adigun came on in the 63rd minute for Harry Wood. Ethan Ennis and Lewis Fiorini both came on in the 78th minute, replacing Ben Osborn and Oliver Norwood respectively. Then Benonรฝ Breki Andrรฉsson and Mikael Mandron were introduced in the final minutes as Stockport pushed for a winner. Five substitutions with genuine attacking intent. That is a manager who wanted to win the game rather than settle for a point.
Wednesday's Form Holds Up, But the Margin for Error Is Shrinking
Sheffield Wednesday came into this match with three wins, one draw and one loss from their previous five League One matches. They had beaten Peterborough United 2-1, Wycombe Wanderers 2-1, and hammered Bromley 7-2. Their most recent result before today was a 0-0 draw with Wigan Athletic. So a second consecutive goalless draw, both at home, is a pattern worth watching.
The thing is, that run against Bromley will flatter the averages. Wednesday scored 11 goals and conceded five across those five matches. Only one clean sheet in that sample. Today makes two clean sheets from six League One matches, but the clean sheets are arriving in goalless draws rather than wins. That is accountability for the attacking players to look at hard.
Stockport, for their part, came into this match with two wins and three losses from their previous five League One matches. Their form was inconsistent, with a 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic sitting alongside a 3-4 loss to Leicester and a 0-2 defeat to Luton Town. A resilient away performance here, even without a goal to show for it, is not the worst result for a travelling side that has been leaking goals at the wrong moments.
The Verdict
Sheffield Wednesday will take the point. They kept a clean sheet, they showed desire in the tackles and interceptions, and they got through a difficult afternoon without losing. The bare minimum was achieved.
But the standards have to be higher than this at home. Two shots on target, two key passes, and a team that needed nine interceptions and 15 tackles to survive tells you that Wednesday were not in control of this game. They survived it. That is not the same thing, and any honest Wednesday supporter knows it.
Stockport showed enough here to suggest their inconsistent form is partly down to finishing rather than attitude or organisation. They created the chances. They competed. They had the better of the match in every meaningful attacking category. The three big chances they missed will haunt them on the long coach ride home. Both teams wanted more. Only one of them truly deserved it today.
