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Watford logo
Championship | Gameweek 39
Apr 2, 2021 at 3pm UK
Vicarage Road
Sheffield Wednesday logo

Watford
1 - 0
Sheff Weds

Lees (7' og.)
Sierralta (30'), Hughes (64')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Borner (3'), Urhoghide (38'), Reach (41'), Wildsmith (78')

Watford 1-0 Sheff Weds: Tom Lees scores controversial own goal

Watford 1-0 Sheff Weds: Tom Lees scores controversial own goal
© Reuters
Time is running out for second-bottom Sheffield Wednesday.

An controversial early own goal from Tom Lees gave second-placed Watford a 1-0 win at home to struggling Sheffield Wednesday.

The three points extended the Hornets' winning run to six in a row and 10 from their last 11 matches as Xisco Munoz's side boosted their automatic promotion chances.

Time is running out for Wednesday at the other end of the table, however, with the Owls having to battle on in Hertfordshire without manager Darren Moore after he tested positive for Covid-19.

The game ended up being decided in the seventh minute through an own goal that was hotly disputed.

Ismaila Sarr crossed from the right hoping to find Isaac Success but instead saw the ball turned into the Wednesday net by Owls centre-back Lees.

A raised flag indicating that Success had been offside saw the goal initially disallowed but referee Chris Kavanagh consulted with assistant Dan Cook and ruled that the Watford man had not been interfering with play.

Lees, who had forced his own goalkeeper, Joe Wildsmith, into a save in a similar situation three minutes earlier, argued that he would not have played the ball had Success not been hovering but his protests were ignored.

Osaze Urhoghide headed over from a corner that reached the near post as Wednesday sought a way back into the game.

Josh Windass, played in on the left of the Watford box by Barry Bannan, was foiled by Hornets keeper Daniel Bachmann's brave dive at his feet in the 25th minute.

Wednesday continued to create chances with Julian Borner firing wide after Watford failed to clear the free-kick that resulted from Francisco Sierralta's yellow card challenge on Jordan Rhodes.

Success should have doubled Watford's lead on the half-hour mark but scuffed wide from yet another Sarr delivery.

Urhoghide was booked for barging Philip Zinckernagel over just before the Dane reached the box. Zinckernagel took the free-kick himself but could not beat Wildsmith.

Adam Reach was booked in the 42nd minute for impeding Sarr, with Watford again going close through Joao Pedro's low shot across goal after Success' header had given him a sight of goal.

Callum Paterson fired over for the Owls early in the second half but it wasn't long before Pedro blasted a shot that bounced off Wildsmith and Sarr curled narrowly over.

Rhodes had been waiting for a chance but could not hit the target in the 65th minute when a mis-placed header from a defender landed at his feet on the edge of the six-yard box.

There was one further misfortune for Lees to endure when he limped off injured in the 85th minute.

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sunderland1695226121432
2Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd1610422191232
3Burnley168621961330
4Leeds UnitedLeeds158522491529
5Middlesbrough1683529191027
6West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom166821811726
7Watford168262524126
8Millwall166641914524
9Blackburn RoversBlackburn156451917222
10Bristol City165742020022
11Derby CountyDerby165562020020
12Stoke CityStoke165561920-120
13Norwich CityNorwich164752524119
14Swansea CitySwansea155461110119
15Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds165471826-819
16Luton TownLuton165381826-818
17Coventry CityCoventry164572223-117
18Oxford UnitedOxford Utd164571924-517
19Plymouth ArgylePlymouth164571728-1117
20Preston North EndPreston163761624-816
21Cardiff CityCardiff164481524-916
22Hull City163671621-515
23Portsmouth152671628-1212
24Queens Park RangersQPR161871326-1311


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