Sheffield Wednesday overcame Peterborough on penalties after mounting a historic comeback in the second leg. This secured their place in the One play-off final. Despite losing 4-0 going into Thursday night’s encounter at Hillsborough, the Owls scored four goals, including a thrilling equaliser from Liam Palmer in the eighth minute of stoppage time, to force overtime. No team in the history of the playoffs has ever won by more than a two-goal margin. The Posh believed they had won again as Lee Gregory headed into his own net. However, Callum Paterson quickly leveled the score, pushing the Owls into penalty kicks.
Sheffield Wednesday converted all five of their penalties at Wembley, while Peterborough missed one, sending the Owls to Wembley. Sheffield Wednesday pulled off a miracle, cutting the deficit in half in the first half, and they were off to a great start. After only eight minutes, Joe Ward knocked down Marvin Johnson, and Michael Smith converted a penalty against custodian Will Norris. So the Owls scored again after 25 minutes, this time through Gregory’s close-range shot after Paterson had guided the ball into his path. Wednesday continued to press after the half, and Gregory nearly added to the damage with a spectacular overhead kick that nearly struck the bottom corner before being wonderfully stopped by Norris.
Sheffield Wednesday 5-1 Peterborough | League One Play-Off
Nonetheless, on 71 minutes, Reece James slipped into the crate and slid one under Norris from close range. The game was then taken to extra time as Liam Palmer packed one in from a long throw in the eighth minute of extra time. It appeared that there would be just one winner in extra time, but just before the break, a free kick hit Gregory and made its way into the Wednesday net. However, the home team was energized once more when Paterson terminated from close range to take the game to penalties. Five incredible punishes, one of which was missed by Peterborough’s Dan Head servant, saw Wednesday complete the assignment and rebound, all else being equal.
Darren Moore, manager of Sheffield Wednesday, stated:
“What we’ve done hasn’t sunk in yet because it’s simply been an amazing evening of football. The boys had a “never say die” mentality. We planned after the first leg, worked all week on adjusting our perspective, and performed well in training. There was a lot of faith when we did that. In any case, we’d spent the entire week practicing taking punishments”.
“The goals arrived at critical junctures, but the work, attitude, and togetherness were all present. Only everyone at the football club makes me happy. They deserve Wembley after that performance. “We are focused on the last game, which is the final one.”Nobody, nobody, nobody gave Sheffield Wednesday a chance. At 4-0, you believe the game is over. They didn’t show much spirit in the first leg. They were destroyed and returned.”
“Darren Moore deserves credit. He was under a lot of pressure to produce, and his teammates delivered. I can’t believe we’ve been summoned to witness this. This will go down in history as one of the best comebacks I’ve ever witnessed..”
Darren Ferguson, Peterborough’s manager, stated:
“As you could expect, it’s quite raw. The manner in which we lost the semi-final is sometimes a harsh game. Sheffield Wednesday deserves my congratulations and good luck in the final game.”We were aware that Hillsborough is one of the rare places in League One where you can gain momentum. We made some poor decisions. I don’t want to seem angry, but we only played eight minutes of extra time.”
“Sheffield Wednesday, on the other hand.” I’m not sure how they’ve turned this around right now. I honestly have no idea how that could have happened. It’s difficult enough to overcome a single-goal deficit; the most anyone has ever accomplished is two. It takes a miracle to overcome a four-goal disadvantage. While your heart goes out to Peterborough, you can’t help but admire the tenacity of this Wednesday club’s players, coaching staff, and owner. Those admirers, though, have pushed the boys over the edge.”