Wednesday 17 January 2018 07:57, UK
Sheffield Wednesday boss Jos Luhukay enjoyed his first win at the helm as his side beat Carlisle 2-0 in their FA Cup third-round replay.
Luhukay emerged from his first game in charge with a commendable point in Friday’s Steel City Derby stalemate at Bramall Lane and had little trouble plotting a way past the League Two Cumbrians in his Hillsborough debut.
Goals from Marcos Matias, his first since March 2016, and Atdhe Nuhiu were enough for the under-strength Owls to set up at fourth-round clash with Championship rivals Reading.
Bigger tests will lie ahead for the Dutchman, notably the challenge of getting his side back into the top half of the league, but he will be pleased to get a victory under his belt so early on.
He will also be encouraged by the contribution of Matias, who was frozen out under former boss Carlos Carvalhal. The Portuguese was handed just his fourth start since joining in 2015 and was a constant menace throughout.
An upset briefly seemed possible early on as Carlisle, in snowy conditions, started well.
Mark Ellis hooked straight at rookie goalkeeper Cameron Dawson from a corner before the dangerous Reggie Lambe played in Richie Bennett but he could not get a shot away in time.
With the snow piling down and beginning to cover the pitch, Wednesday’s superiority against a team 44 places below them in the ladder soon began to tell and they took the lead with their first real chance.
Nuhiu flicked on a long ball which Matias raced on and confidently blasted into the roof of the net. It was the first goal of Luhukay’s reign and their first in more than six hours of action, going back to Boxing Day.
Nuhiu and Matias combined again, but Carlisle goalkeeper Jack Bonham did well to get down to the latter’s shot while George Boyd and Jacob Butterfield missed the target from great positions.
The second goal eventually came in the 66th minute as the dangerous front pairing again linked up, this time Matias feeding Nuhiu, who cut inside and slotted into the bottom corner to kill the game off.
Carlisle, managed by former Sheffield United defender Keith Curle, were unable to regain the threat they carried in the opening 10 minutes and third-choice goalkeeper Dawson was given mainly a watching brief until he was forced to palm away Shaun Miller’s fierce drive from distance in the final 10 minutes.
By then, though, Wednesday’s job was done and Connor O’Grady and Boyd had further chances to put a gloss on to the scoreline, but they had to settle for two.
