Sheffield Wednesday ensured that they would start 2015 in the top half of the Championship table courtesy of a 1-0 victory over 10-man Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium this evening.
It was the visitors who created the best chance of a largely dull and uneventful first half when Jacques Maghoma found Atdhe Nuhiu in the middle, only for the striker to see Ivan Ramis clear his effort off the line.
Lewis McGugan fired a deflected effort narrowly wide later in the half and came close once again right on the stroke of the interval, but Scott Carson recovered to prevent the midfielder's effort from trickling under his body.
The second half also began short of drama, with Keiren Westwood keeping out a James McClean effort the highlight of the opening 20 minutes.
The hosts did have the ball in the back of the net in the 65th minute, but McClean's celebrations were cut short by the linesman's flag.
Moments later, the Latics were reduced to 10 men as Callum McManaman was given his marching orders for a dangerous tackle on Claude Dielna.
Wednesday immediately set about looking to make their numerical advantage pay, and they broke the deadlock with less than 15 minutes remaining when Nuhiu nodded past Carson having been denied by the keeper shortly before.
Wigan almost rescued a point with six minutes of normal time remaining when Ramis went for goal, but his effort hit the post as the Owls survived.
Barney Corkhill
