Southampton punish set pieces to climb to seventh | OneFootball

Match in Five Sentences: Southampton beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at Hillsborough. James Bree opened the scoring in the 17th minute after a corner. Ryan Manning doubled the lead from a free kick in the first minute of first half stoppage time. After the restart, Jerry Yates halved the deficit (57.), but Taylor Harwood-Bellis made it safe (71.). Saints rise from eighth to seventh and visit Fulham in the FA Cup next, while The Owls travel to Derby.

Player of the Match: Harwood-Bellis commanded the back line and sealed the result, completing 72 of 80 passes and winning five aerials.

Stat of the Match: The Saints completed 86.3% of their passes, a platform for sustained control.

Three Things We Learned: Set pieces told, with goals from a corner, a direct free kick and another corner. The Saints registered 6 shots on target to 3. The Owls had 36.5% possession and produced 10 attempts despite Yates and Jamal Lowe combining for their goal.