Sheffield Wednesday vs Queens Park Rangers. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Queens Park Rangers at Hillsborough on Saturday | Anthony Musaba scores stoppage-time winner for Owls.
Saturday 16 December 2023 18:53, UK
Late goals from Bailey Cadamarteri and Anthony Musaba gave Sheffield Wednesday a vital 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers at Hillsborough.
Bambo Diaby's first-half own goal had put Rangers on course for three points on the road but Cadamarteri equalised in the 86th minute before Musaba won it for Wednesday in stoppage time.
The result leaves both teams in the Championship relegation zone but Wednesday cut the gap to Rangers to four points.
Wednesday manager Danny Rohl made three changes to the team that lost 3-1 at Norwich, with Di'Shon Bernard, Pol Valentin and Marvin Johnson coming in.
QPR boss Marti Cifuentes made five changes to the side that drew 0-0 at home to Plymouth, with Jake Clarke-Salter, Paul Smyth, Elijah Dixon-Bonner, Reggie Cannon and Sinclair Armstrong joining the starting XI.
Problems off the pitch for Wednesday continued, with fans marching in protest at Dejphon Chansiri's running of the club before the game.
It was a cagey opening 45 minutes with very little in the way of clear-cut chances. Wednesday captain Barry Bannan whipped in a free-kick from the left but Callum Paterson could not find the target.
The away side broke the deadlock in the 37th minute. Ilias Chair struck from distance and Diaby headed into his own net to give QPR a narrow lead going into the interval.
In the first act of the second half, the home fans thought they were level from Will Vaulks' corner but referee Andy Davies blew for a foul.
Substitute Lyndon Dykes could only flick over the bar from Kenneth Paal's cross. Bannan then had a go from distance but opposition skipper Asmir Begovic was at full stretch to deny him.
Wednesday brought on Djeidi Gassama and John Buckley during the second half to try and get back in the game as Paterson was carried off on a stretcher.
Sam Field had a huge chance to seal victory for QPR but Cameron Dawson got down low to keep the home side in it and it proved to be a huge turning point.
The Owls equalised when Gassama crossed from the left and 18-year-old Cadamarteri was there to claim his third goal in four Championship games.
Just as it seemed the game was destined to finish level, Musaba scrambled in after the ball hit the post in the fourth minute of injury time to send the Owls faithful crazy and give them all three points.
Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Rohl:
"It was a hard game against an opponent who forced us to work very hard. I don't think in the first half either team was better than the other; it was a very even game.
"Obviously we conceded the goal and it was very hard for us against a team like QPR because they were defending so deep.
"I spoke to the team at half-time and I said we need to play the ball forward more often. We had the feeling in the second half there was something in the game for us.
"We had to take a few players off because of injury so it was even more difficult for us and this makes me so proud of the team today.
"I have talked about what has made us successful in the last few games and it has all been about having the belief until the very end."
QPR's Marti Cifuentes:
"I am disappointed in the way we managed the last 15 minutes of the game. We can't lead for so long and then concede two goals like that.
"We had a clear chance to kill the game and in these moments we must take advantage. We didn't score the second but these things can happen.
"In the past two games we have had opportunities to take big steps forward and we have not taken them. The performances have been good but we haven't got the results we wanted.
"We have let Sheffield Wednesday get a hold of the game. They were 1-0 down at home in an important game; we had to do more to frustrate them.
"I think today we weren't able to play the way we would have liked to. In the second half we had a few good periods of possession but we didn't do enough to score."
