FA Cup/ Sheffield Wednesday 1 Manchester City 1:The whiff of revival about Sheffield Wednesday since the appointment of Brian Laws received confirmation here. Laws' arrival in November has seen the club climb the English Championship, away from the relegation zone and into a flirtation with the play-offs.
Yesterday, less than one minute after falling behind to a Manchester City penalty converted by Georgios Samaras, Wednesday struck an equaliser few could say was undeserved. Steve MacLean was the scorer and his intervention means a replay in Manchester on Wednesday week.
City cannot enter that fixture thinking the hard work has been done. Wednesday may have forfeited home advantage, but they are a tidy team on the road, as Laws was keen to stress afterwards. Laws had his chest out, but deep down he may regret that such a coherent performance did not produce an upset.
While Mark Crossley, on loan at Hillsborough from Fulham, was busy, his opposite number Nicky Weaver made equally telling saves.
Weaver was beaten twice, but on the first occasion Samaras was behind him on the line to head away Lee Bullen's header. That was in the 46th minute, Weaver having just made a block himself.
Had Wednesday gone in front, it would have been interesting to witness City's response. There were moments when Stuart Pearce appeared infuriated by his players' lack of application.
But Pearce was calm afterwards - City were not surefooted, but they avoided a tumble. "The draw was the fair result. We could have won it, but you have to give credit to Sheffield Wednesday."
Laws had done so already. "We showed fantastic character to bounce back," he said. "The manner of it was very impressive. I'm biased, but over 90 minutes I think we deserved to win it. Sheffield Wednesday were the better side; there was no great divide between us."
Neat and inventive, the Championship side are worthy of the passing tradition of Laws' and Pearce's mentor Brian Clough, though there is an element of necessity about their style.
"We haven't got the players to play kick and rush," said Laws, "we have players who are comfortable with the ball."
The creative impulse of Joey Barton and Stephen Ireland was missing and a spark was required. Some thought Manchester City's Micah Richards had supplied it when he felled Glenn Whelan with what resembled a haymaker. Home fans screamed for a red card, but Graham Poll had a yellow in his hand immediately.
"He's not a hothead," Pearce said of his coveted teenager.
• Guardian Service
