Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 Nottingham Forest: Kieran Lee inspires Owls victory

Saturday 9 September 2017 20:43, UK

Kieran Lee scored a goal and provided an assist as Sheffield Wednesday beat Nottingham Forest 3-1 to register their first league win at Hillsborough this season.

The hosts took the lead on 23 minutes as Gary Hooper seized upon an error by Jordan Smith to score but Forest equalised five minutes later through Ben Osborn.

Sheffield Wednesday regained the lead as Steven Fletcher powerfully headed in Lee's corner just past the hour mark and the midfielder got in on the act himself with a close-range volley late on to seal the win.

Carlos Carvalhal's side have made a slow start to the season but that win has seen them shoot up the table and overtake Forest into 10th place in the Championship table.

Sheffield Wednesday have opened their Championship campaign with two 1-1 draws at home and they made a fast start here with Hooper (twice) and Fletcher going close to scoring in the opening 10 minutes.

And their persistence paid off with just over 20 minutes on the clock as Barry Bannan seized upon an errant clearance from Smith to tee up Hooper inside the box and he finished calmly.

Their lead didn't last long, though, as Forest equalised through Osborn's well-struck finish after the midfielder latched onto Barrie McKay's inch-perfect through ball from the left wing.

Wednesday responded after half-time and regained their advantage on 63 minutes as Fletcher slammed home a near-post header from Lee's in swinging corner.

Then with 15 minutes remaining, Lee got on the scoresheet himself as he seized upon a defensive mix-up to finish emphatically from close-range.

Forest had their opportunities during the game, most notably when Jason Cummings saw a goalbound effort headed off the line by Tom Lees, but Sheffield Wednesday were well-deserving of their first home win.

The managers

Carlos Carvalhal: "We could have scored five goals in the first eight minutes but with time, we found a way to do that.

"The team stayed compact, we managed the game well and waited for our moments in the game.

"We have another game on Tuesday, so after our third goal, we closed the windows and the doors and saw the game out."

Mark Warburton: "We gave away a soft first goal, we gifted it to them, but we responded and rallied well and got the deserved equaliser and at half time we thought we were in a decent shape.

"We then came out and for the first 10 or 15 minutes we were on top, we were controlling the tempo of the game and it was pleasing. The substitutions were to then try and maximise that but we then gifted the second goal.

"There was no lack of work ethic, no lack of desire but we have gifted them two goals and you can't expect to walk away with the points if that happens."