Rovers’ poor Boxing Day form continued, with just two wins in their last 12 Christmas clashes since 2006-07, as they were unable to overcome a defiant Sheffield Wednesday side who were slowly improving under Tony Pulis, despite their poor form this season. There was some Christmas cheer for the Blues, however, as Bradley Dack made a return to first-team football for the first time in 368 days.
As Rovers returned to Ewood Park for their festive fixture against Sheffield Wednesday, Tony Mowbray made one change to the starting-11 that fell to a 1-0 defeat against Stoke City, last time out. Daniel Ayala returned to the squad to partner skipper Darragh Lenihan, as Tom Trybull dropped out of the squad altogether, which allowed Bradley Johnson to slot back into the midfield. Alongside the return of the Spaniard, came the long-awaited returns of Bradley Dack and Ben Brereton, both of whom were deemed fit enough by Mowbray, for a place on the bench.
With Sheffield Wednesday stuck in the relegation zone due to their points deduction, today’s game was crucial in their fight for survival, as Josh Windass got the game underway for the visitors at Ewood Park.
Adam Armstrong managed to claim the first attempt of the game on the third minute after his left-footed attempt from range saw Keiren Westwood fumble, before securing the ball at the second attempt.
Sam Gallagher managed to shift the ball before creating an opening to shoot on the 11th minute, but Joost van Aken did enough to curtail the forward’s effort as the strike looped over the bar.
Moments later, Harvey Elliott managed to create a similar opportunity to Gallagher, but the loanee’s cross-cum-shot veered wide of the mark.
A quiet game saw Rovers receive a 28th minute free-kick which Joe Rothwell clipped in. Darragh Lenihan was the target and the player to latch onto the cross, but the central defender couldn’t keep his header down.
The 41st minute saw the scoreline go against the overall run of play in the game, as the visitors managed to get themselves ahead courtesy of a wonder-strike from Adam Reach. Following a defensive mix-up at the back by Rovers, the ball fell kindly for Adam Reach who managed to kill the ball before picking out the top left-hand corner of the net, as the Owls took a 1-0 lead courtesy of a fabulous goal.
Although the goal proved to be the half’s only exciting point, referee Tony Harrington soon brought the period to an end after adding on two unnecessary extra minutes due to the stoppages.
Tony Mowbray would have been fuming at his side’s display during the break, as despite ending the half with 74% possession, they found themselves behind due to a lack of concentration and a wonder-strike. The boss, would have potentially been assessing the option of bringing on Bradley Dack and/or Ben Brereton for the second-half, but he would have also been reiterating his frustration at his side’s lack of intent within the final third, as well as their poor positioning on transition, after they had lost the ball before the opener.
The visiting boss, Tony Pulis, in contrast would have been pleased but not overjoyed at his team’s first-half performance. Although he would have been delighted to have gone ahead, the Welshman would have been rather uneasy with the amount of space and time his side had given Rovers on the ball throughout the first period and he would have been hoping that, despite their poor form and the fact they were away from home, that his side would have been able to gather a bit more possession than they were having during the first period. Although Pulis’ sides aren’t renowned for their scintillating possession play, the former Stoke City boss would have been telling his side to try and keep as much of the ball as possible, in order to reduce Rovers’ threat, rather than try and grab a second goal.
After both manager managed to get their messages across to their players during the 15-minute break, it was Rovers who got the second-half underway in the hope that they could recuperate their first-half losses and come away from Ewood Park with their first Boxing Day victory since the 2017-18 season, where they beat Rochdale by 2-0.
Wednesday managed to craft the first chance of the second period, as Reach tried to double his tally on the 57th minute, but his effort veered narrowly wide of the right-hand post.
Rovers’ reinforcements came in the 62nd minute, as Tony Mowbray made a triple change which included the return of Bradley Dack – who signed a new deal during the week – to first-team action. The playmaker came onto the pitch alongside Ben Brereton and Stewart Downing as the trio replaced Bradley Johnson, Lewis Holtby and Sam Gallagher, the latter of whom appeared to go off with a slight injury. The changes also brought out a slight change of shape which saw Rovers revert from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-2-2, as Joe Rothwell partnered Stewart Downing in the middle, behind a front four of Harvey Elliott, Bradley Dack, Adam Armstrong and Ben Brereton.
The changes brought an instant attacking impetus to Rovers’ play, as Adam Armstrong came agonisingly close to drawing level on the 66th minute. Some good build-up on the edge of the Wednesday area saw Brereton lay the ball off for Armstrong who turned and shoot towards goal, but despite beating Westwood, the ‘Angel of the North’ couldn’t beat the post as the ball cannoned back off the upright before Wednesday cleared.
Moments later, Armstrong tried his luck from just outside the box, but Westwood was equal to the effort as he claimed the weak effort.
Sheffield Wednesday’s first change of the game came in the 68th minute after Joost van Aken was deemed unable to continue. After the Dutchman was reviewed by the visiting medical staff, Liam Shaw was brought on to replace him.
After huffing and puffing, Rovers managed to restore parity thanks to a piece of individual genius from Joe Rothwell. The midfielder turned on the afterburners from deep as he stormed forward with the ball from 40-yards out. The former Oxford United midfielder went on a Messi-like run as he weaved through a number of Wednesday bodies before side-footing the ball past Westwood into the bottom right-hand corner of the net which brought Rovers back level at 1-1.
Wednesday thought they’d re-taken the leads on the 81st minute after Tom Lees bundled the ball into the back of the net, but the effort was ruled out for offside.
The visitors made their second change of the game on the 82nd minute as Kadeem Harris replaced the goalscorer, Adam Reach.
Ben Brereton came narrowly close to putting Rovers ahead after he latched onto the end of Darragh Lenihan’s inviting cross, but the forward’s effort was deflected behind for a corner which Wednesday cleared.
Rovers ramped up the pressure in the closing stages as they forced another attempt in the 86th minute. Downing found Armstrong who managed to roll the ball and strike at goal, but his attempt, aimed for the bottom corner, was deflected behind for a corner. A minute later, Daniel Ayala glanced a header wide from Armstrong’s dink into the box.
A third Wednesday change came in the 87th minute when Izzy Brown replaced Josh Windass.
As Rovers continued to push for a late winner, they were given six extra minutes by referee Tony Harrington on the 90th minute, to try and find the much-needed morale and points booster.
This game was always going to be difficult for Rovers, given how desperate Sheffield Wednesday are for points and how renowned Tony Pulis is as a manager, yet the game panned out almost how every Rovers fan could have probably predicted. The Owls came and ‘did a job’ on Rovers, but a piece of individual brilliance from Joe Rothwell halted the ‘smash and grab’ from being a reality. Saying that, this game resurfaces Rovers’ biggest Achilles heel, which has been around since the League One days, and has been an issue particularly when playing at home. The side always find it difficult to play against teams that utilise a ‘low block’ or ‘park the bus’. Although Mowbray has been reiterating in recent weeks that they are trying to overcome this issue, the side never really looked capable of getting beyond the Wednesday backline, until the introduction of Bradley Dack, who managed to create space and passing lanes to manoeuvre in. The main negative from today’s game was the goal. Although both of today’s goals were bits of individual class, the lead-up to Reach’s goal looked as if it was out of a comedy sketch, with Daniel Ayala and Barry Douglas comedically unable to clear their lines, as Douglas’ header bounced off Ayala, straight into Reach’s path. Whilst it was down to ‘individual error’ rather than a tactical issue, these crucial mistakes are what – in the grand scheme of things – will be the difference over the course of a campaign between Rovers finishing in the top six, or not.
Despite failing to gain the much-needed three points, Rovers didn’t move in the table despite some late results around them. Tony Mowbray’s side stayed in 11th place, with 29 points and a positive goal difference of +29, from the 21 league games played this campaign.
Coming up for Rovers are two away games, followed by a return to Ewood Park for FA Cup action. Rovers’ final game of 2020 sees them travel to Yorkshire to face-off against Huddersfield Town on Tuesday 29th December at 7:45pm. After that, they start 2021 how they ended 2020, as the side are back on the road with St. Andrew’s typed into the Sat Nav, as they make their second trip of the season to Birmingham, but this time to face Aitor Karanka’s Blues on Saturday 2nd January at 3pm. Following those road games, the Blues are back at Ewood Park to once again, host Darren Moore’s Doncaster Rovers, but this time in the FA Cup, on Saturday 9th January at 3pm.
