Sheffield Wednesday blew the promotion race wide open on Saturday evening with a stunning 3-1 win at home to 2nd placed Leeds United. The result allowed Gordon Kinnear's Derby to close the gap on John Vinicombe's side to just 2 points, while Stephen Beddows' Blackburn pulled away, with the title now seemingly destined for Ewood Park.
The match could not have started any better for the Owls, who were heading into the game unbeaten in five. Latvian Artjoms Rudnevs, a mid-season arrival from Hamburg, scored his 7th goal in 13 matches after just 7 minutes. A minute later, Ighalo laid the ball forward for Rudnevs again, but the flag went up for offside. For the rest of the half though, Vinicombe's side showed why they are promotion contenders, with Dzsudzsak and Pelle each coming close. However, 5 minutes before half time, Leeds did grab the equaliser they deserved through Bosnian defender Ervin Zukanovic, who latched onto Engin Baytar's corner to smash past former Leeds keeper Chris Kirkland.
Chris Brunt went close at the start of the 2nd half, but from then on, Wednesday were in control. Having already gone close a few minutes earlier, Odion Ighalo got on the end of Rudnevs' cross to poke past veteran keeper Morgan De Sanctis and restore the hosts lead.
It would get even better for Powell's men soon after though. Again, Ighalo netted, in the 76th minute, smashing in a freekick after Olcan Adin had been brought down by Taras Mykhalyk, and secure the 3 points. Ighalo has been in fine form recently. He scored the only goal in the win away at Nottingham Forest and draw at Wolves, and scored his 3rd and 4th goals in less than a week as Wednesday continue their fine form, which has stretched to 12 points in their last 6 matches, moving us up to 13th in the league.
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