Wednesday produced some of their best attacking football of the season at Hillsborough against Aston Villa but two late goals saw us end up on the wrong end of a 4-2 scoreline.
We created plenty of chances against promotion-chasing Villa, particularly in the first half, but were often left stretched at the other end as the visitors exposed our fragile defence with their pacey attacks.
Sean Clare, who again caught the eye with another promising performance in midfield, completed an excellent move by firing us in front from the edge of the box on 14 minutes, only for Lewis Grabban to poke home an equaliser six minutes later in a goalmouth scramble, after Joe Wildsmith had saved John Terry’s close-range header.
Wednesday continued to carry more of the attacking threat, Clare twice going close to getting a second, Lucas Joao heading just wide and George Boyd seeing his shot come back off the woodwork.
However, the Owls were not be denied and Joao put us back in front just before half time with a fine header from Adam Reach’s corner in front of the Kop.
The game went through a quieter spell at the beginning of the second half before Villa levelled the scores for a second time on 67 minutes, ex-Owl Glenn Whelan heading home at the far post,
We bounced back again soon afterwards with Frederico Venancio hitting an upright and keeper Sam Johnstone blocking Joao’s follow-up before Villa scrambled the loose ball clear.
Nuhiu then tested Johnstone but, with three minutes left, it was Villa who went in front, Conor Hourihane drilling the ball home from 12 yards from a half-cleared corner.
While Villa had generally looked the more likely side to score in the second half, it was tough on Wednesday’s overall attacking display and it got even harsher in added time when Robert Snodgrass scored from the penalty spot after he had been body-checked by Daniel Pudil.
Wildsmith, Hunt, Venancio, Pudil, Fox, Boyd, Pelupessy, Clare, Reach, Joao, Nuhiu.