Sheffield Wednesday

Nick Lough reports for swfc.co.uk from St James' Park

Lewis McGugan’s second half strike earned Sheffield Wednesday a sensational win over Newcastle as the Owls progressed to the fourth round of the Capital One Cup.

The midfielder fired home from 20 yards after pouncing on a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area, with his clinical strike proving too much for Tim Krul to handle as the goalkeeper failed to keep out the Wednesday man’s effort.

The Owls now face top-flight giants Arsenal at Hillsborough at the next stage.

Head coach Carlos Carvalhal made ten changes to the side that ran out 3-2 winners against Fulham on Saturday, with only Tom Lees retaining his place in the starting XI.

The hosts fashioned the first real chance of the match after eleven minutes when midfielder Moussa Sissoko found himself through on goal but the French international bent his low curling shot against the outside of the post.

Despite the early the scare the Owls began to find their feet in the game as they kept their top tier opponents at bay. Marco Matias registered Wednesday’s first shot on goal with a sweetly struck volley from 20 yards out but the 26-year-old’s effort was straight at United keeper Krul.

Jeremy Helan was next to take aim for the visitors after shrugging off a number of challenges before unleashing a sharp strike on the turn which again forced Krul into making a save.

Wednesday were beginning to see more of the ball as the half went on as a neat move by the trio of Matias, Modou Sougou and Lucas Joao saw the latter go one-on-one with Krul but the striker slipped at the vital moment inside the penalty area.

The home side made two changes at the beginning of the second period as they looked to stamp their mark on the game but the Owls continued to frustrate the Premier League side by matching them player for player.

The lively Sougou had two bites of the cherry on the hour mark after rifling a powerful shot against the palms of Krul, before narrowly bending his second attempt within a foot of the Dutchman’s far post.

Newcastle substitute Ayoze Perez beat the offside trap for the hosts moments later after latching on to a through ball by Sissoko, but the Spaniard shanked his shot in to the side-netting.

Then, with 14 minutes left on the clock, McGugan fired Wednesday into the lead after some composed footwork by Sergiu Bus.

The Romanian plucked the ball out of the air before being tackled on the edge of the box, with McGugan’s powerful strike from the follow-up nestling into the bottom left hand corner via the glove of the Newcastle goalkeeper.

The visitors could have doubled their lead moments later after Joao’s bullet header at the back post was sublimely tipped on to the bar by Krul, but from the rebound striker Bus somehow smashed the ball back off the woodwork via a deflection from five yards out.

Atdhe Nuhiu and Barry Bannan entered the fray for the closing stages of the tie in place of the impressive Joao and Sougou as they looked to hold on for the final few minutes.

As the hosts pushed forward with a late onslaught, Carvalhal’s men held on through the five minutes of added time to secure one of the scalps of the round by sending the Magpies out of the Capital One Cup.

Wednesday: Wildsmith, Palmer, Loovens, Semedo, Matias (Bus, 65), McGugan, Lees, Wiggins, Helan, Joao (Nuhiu, 81), Sougou (Bannan, 86).