Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore hailed the “best moment” of his managerial career as his side overturned a four-goal deficit to win 5-1 after extra time at Hillsborough and earn a 5-3 win on penalties against Peterborough.
The hosts made a lightning start and got two goals in the first 25 minutes courtesy of Michael Smith penalty and Lee Gregory.
Reece James made it three and pulled the hosts to within one of Peterborough’s aggregate lead with 20 minutes to go, and they sent the game to extra time with the last kick of normal time when Liam Palmer nudged home from close range.
A Gregory own goal gave Peterborough the initiative once again in the tie but Wednesday remarkably equalised once again through Callum Paterson, taking the game to penalties – The Owls’ date at Wembley was booked when Jack Hunt converted with the last spot kick after Dan Butler hit the crossbar with the only miss of the shootout.
Moore insists the comeback victory will go down as the best in his managerial career but wants to go one step further by achieving promotion.
He said: “For me, it’s my best moment in terms of management.
“To witness it and for it to come here, I couldn’t have wished for it to be at a better a place, under the lights here at Hillsborough.
“Tonight will be special, but as I keep saying to them, we have got another game to go. We enjoy tonight and then focus on the Wembley game now.
“We had a rallying call to get the fans to come out and be in full voice and they were tonight. When the boys were cramping up tonight, the fans kept them going. The boys showed great character.”
Moore explained how his team went to the “hurt locker” to get the result as several players received treatment for muscle injuries and thought his side took the penalties well, when the pressure was on.
He said: “They’ve gone to hurt locker tonight, the boys.
“They had to go to the hurt locker to get this one done tonight, it wasn’t going to take anything less than that to get the job done.
“We worked on them (penalties) in training. We were ready for it and I was super confident with every single one of them.
“Credit to the boys in terms of how they went about it, Peterborough have pushed us all the way and for us to win the game it had to come down to a moment like that.”
Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson defended that his team selection went unchanged after their 4-0 win in the first leg at the Weston Homes Stadium.
He said: “I cannot be criticised for picking the same team that have won two games like that.
“In terms of team selection, we wanted the quality on the ball. But when you make decisions like we did and give them momentum, it can be hard to get it back and I’ve seen far better teams than us lose it psychologically.
“I thought we’d just done enough but unfortunately the added time and last kick of the ball has put it into extra-time.”
Ferguson dismissed questions on whether he will be in the Peterborough dugout next season after he returned to the club in January.
He continued: “Tonight is not the night for that question.
“How can I answer that? There has been no talks, no offer to stay. I was brought in to do a job and the chat will take place after this season has finished.”
World Cup Girlz back in the fold? Gilbert hints at return of experienced players for Brazil friendlies
For the first time in almost nine months, it seems as if Jamaica’s interim Reggae Girlz Head coach Xavier Gilbert will have members of the World Cup squad at his disposal, when they visit Brazil for a two-match friendly international series in June.
The Girlz, who first locked horns with Brazil, and lost 0-3, at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, went one better at last year’s global showpiece in Australia, as they not only held the South American giants to a goalless stalemate, but also ensured their elimination at the group stage.
By all indications, that performance, and by extension, the fact that the Girlz made an historic appearance in the knockout stages of the World Cup, earned them even more respect from the number 10-ranked Brazilians, who are currently in preparation for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
The games, scheduled for June 1 and 4, are expected to assist Brazil in their preparation, while the now 42nd-ranked Jamaicans will get a much-needed test to regain their appetite for international competition, having last sported the nationals colours against Canada last September.
Since that Olympic qualifying fixture in Canada, members of the World Cup squad withdrew their services from national representation, citing lack of payment and mistreatment from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), among their reasons.
While it is yet to be confirmed how many, if any, of the World Cup players will make the trip, Gilbert gave the clearest indication yet that there might be a few, as he welcomed the games, after not utilizing the last FIFA window.
“It is always important to secure games during the international window. It not only assists in exposing players, but it also ensures the team is active, which helps our rankings, and also our quality of play. Because as you know, the more we play together, especially against quality opponents, the better the team becomes, and we also get to work on different things both offensively and defensively,” Gilbert told SportsMax.TV.
“The expectation is for us to give a good account of ourselves, it has been a while since these players have played together, but the good thing is that they are actively engaged in their respective leagues in Europe and United States. So, it is not like they were inactive, and obviously, it is not the first time they will be playing together.
“So, we just have to keep things as simple or as close to what we did prior to, and during the World Cup, to make sure we are competitive. It is going to be a little bit different, but it’s not far-fetched that we can get another positive result against Brazil,” he added.
Atletico Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao: Hosts close in on top-four finish
Atletico Madrid beat newly crowned Copa del Rey winners Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at home in LaLiga on Saturday as Diego Simeone's side moved a step closer to a top-four finish.
Fourth-placed Atletico moved onto 64 points and have increased their advantage over Athletic, in fifth, to six points with five games to play.
Midfielder Rodrigo de Paul put Atletico in front in the 15th minute with a goal from outside the box. After controlling an attempted clearance from the visitors, his effort dipped just under the bar as his strike deflected off one of the Athletic defenders.
Athletic levelled just before half-time through Nico Williams after Antoine Griezmann lost the ball through a careless pass.
But Angel Correa restored the lead for Atletico in the 52nd minute and later came close to scoring again.
With 10 minutes to play, away goalkeeper Unai Simon inadvertently made it 3-1 with an own goal after Samuel Lino’s effort came back off the post, ending any Athletic hopes of a comeback.
Hull City 3-3 Ipswich Town: Tigers fight back three times to deny Tractor Boys
Ipswich Town missed the chance to move into an automatic promotion spot as play-off-chasing Hull City came from behind three times in a thrilling 3-3 Championship draw at The MKM Stadium.
Ipswich knew a victory would take them second after Leeds United were surprisingly beaten 4-0 by Queens Park Rangers on Friday, and they led on three separate occasions, George Hirst opening the scoring before Omari Hutchinson produced two brilliant strikes from the edge of the area.
However, buoyed by slip-ups from rivals Norwich City and West Brom earlier on Saturday, Hull dug deep to fight back on each occasion, Ozan Tufan and Liam Delap scoring their first two equalisers.
With Liam Rosenior's men 3-2 down with just four minutes to play, substitute Noah Ohio blasted his shot in off the crossbar to punish an error from Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
The result keeps Ipswich behind second-placed Leeds on goal difference, though the Tractor Boys have a game in hand to come at Coventry City on Tuesday.
Hull, meanwhile, are two points adrift of the top six, with Norwich's goal difference advantage meaning their top-six spot is all but assured. The Tigers will, however, leapfrog West Brom if they beat Plymouth Argyle on the final day and Albion lose to Preston North End.
Data Debrief: Hutchinson's best not enough
Hutchinson was a man who deserved to be on the winning side on Saturday, giving Ryan Allsop no chance with two near-identical left-footed strikes from the right corner of the penalty area.
His goals came from an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.6, and he led all players on the pitch for shots (eight) and passes in the final third (21), also laying on three chances for his team-mates.
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