Sheffield Wednesday 5-1 Peterborough United (5-5 agg): Owls win 5-3 on penalties to reach play-off final

Sheffield Wednesday pulled off the best play-off comeback in English Football League historical past to beat Peterborough United on penalties on an unforgettable evening in South Yorkshire.

Wednesday made the right begin when Michael Smith slotted residence a penalty within the opening 10 minutes to give the house followers renewed hope a miracle may very well be on the playing cards, earlier than Lee Gregory tapped in to make it 2-0 after 25 minutes.

The residence aspect continued to pour ahead after the break and Reece James obtained the third with a close-range end earlier than Liam Palmer scrambled residence an equaliser with the final kick of the 90 minutes to spark pandemonium.

A shell-shocked Posh had scarcely obtained out of their very own half within the second half of regular time however Gregory deflected a Nathan Thompson header into his personal internet in additional time to put the guests again in entrance, just for Callum Paterson to poke residence on the second try to ship the tie to penalty kicks.

Dan Butler’s effort hit the crossbar and went over and each different penalty was scored in a shootout befitting the 120 minutes which had preceded it.

Prior to this tie no crew had ever overcome a two-goal first-leg deficit within the EFL play-offs to reach the final.

Wednesday, who had turn into the primary crew in EFL historical past to win 96 factors and never go up robotically, will now face both Bolton or Barnsley at Wembley on Monday, 29 May.

How the drama unfolded on memorable evening

The Owls, who had completed 19 factors and three locations above Peterborough in League One, had left themselves with a seemingly insurmountable mountain to climb after Friday’s 4-0 thumping in Cambridgeshire.

Moore stated earlier than the sport his crew simply had to focus on successful and “see what happens”, however certainly he might by no means have envisaged what would unfold.

In entrance of a raucous crowd, Marvin Johnson was clattered to the bottom on the very fringe of the penalty space by Joe Ward and Smith confidently rolled residence his spot-kick.

Posh had been rocked however nonetheless got here shut to a leveller on the evening when Kwame Poku confirmed good toes earlier than drilling a low shot at objective that Cameron Dawson obtained down effectively to.

Dawson’s counterpart Norris then flapped at a ball into the center and Paterson’s blasted cross-shot was transformed in the midst of the six-yard field by Gregory to enhance the noise inside the bottom much more.

The away aspect went right into a huddle as they sought to regain some composure within the aftermath of the Owls’ second and Ephron Mason-Clark examined Dawson as soon as extra earlier than Joe Ward noticed a shot blocked, however it was Wednesday who had wrested management of the play as soon as extra by the point the whistle was blown on an completely frenetic first half.

They picked up the place that they had left off within the second half and Norris made an outstanding diving save to hold out a spectacular overhead kick from Gregory, after which denied Josh Windass with a extra routine save.

Wednesday continued to pour ahead searching for a 3rd and 29-goal Posh striker Jonson Clarke-Harris was continuously left to fill in as an additional centre-back because the guests’ defending grew to become ever extra determined.

It was only a matter of time till the strain advised and James struck from six yards after Gregory cleverly dummied a by way of ball.

Moore introduced on centre-back Aden Flint to play up entrance for the final jiffy of time added on and it proved essential because the defender headed down a deep cross for Palmer to smuggle over the road.

Peterborough had not had a shot for the entire of the second half however retook the lead on mixture when Gregory sadly deflected in Thompson’s header from a Butler free-kick simply earlier than half-time in additional time.

Wednesday didn’t give in although and after Paterson popped up with one other leveller, Smith, Will Vaulks, Barry Bannan, Josh Windass and at last Hunt scored from the spot to spark wild celebrations as residence followers raced on to the pitch.

More to observe.