Contrasting fan chants, ex-Sunderland target a ‘constant threat’ plus Everton loanee returns: Moments you may have missed at Sheffield Wednesday

Lee Johnson’s side have now lost three consecutive league games, conceding nine goals, with worrying patterns starting to emerge.

First-half goals from Wolves loanee Theo Corbeanu and Florian Kamberi put Wednesday in control at Hillsborough, before Lee Gregory added a third after the interval.

Here are some of the moments you may have missed:

Ex-Sunderland target stars

Just like against Rotherham and Charlton in their last two defeats, Sunderland failed to deal with crosses into the box and the presence of two physical strikers.

Kamberi and Gregory were a handful all evening for the Black Cats’ defence, with the pair repeatedly winning aerial duels and pressing from the front.

Wednesday signed Kamberi on loan from Swiss side St Gallen in the summer, and some may remember he was once on Sunderland’s radar.

The Black Cats attempted to sign the forward in the summer of 2019, when Jack Ross was still in charge, but he instead signed permanently for SPL side Hibernian, where he had spent the previous season on loan.

Since moving to Wednesday, Kamberi had scored just once in seven league appearances for The Owls before the meeting with Sunderland.

On this evidence there is lots more to come from the 26-year-old, with Wednesday boss Darren Moore describing him as a ‘constant threat.’

Whether it was a case of him stepping up, or the Black Cats’ waning defence, will become clear in the weeks to come.

Contrasting fan chants

Two weeks ago Sunderland had thrashed a struggling Crewe side 4-0 to go second in the table, with two games in hand on Plymouth above them.

How things can change quickly.

The Black Cats have been backed by huge away followings at Rotherham and Wednesday, with around 7,000 supporters attending the two games combined.

Yet what they have been served up has been embarrassing – conceding eight goals and scoring just once.

That early-season optimism evaporated in the away end at Hillsborough, with a section of the Sunderland supporters chanting about how bad their side were. And that’s putting it mildly.

There were still shouts of ‘Sunderland 'Til I Die’ even when the team fell 3-0 behind and showed little signs of mounting a comeback. Many stayed until the end but some had seen enough.

Nathan Broadhead’s reception

Before the game started, it was encouraging to see Nathan Broadhead and Alex Pritchard return to the Sunderland bench.

Broadhead has been sidelined with a hamstring issue since producing two standout performances in the cup game at Wigan and against Cheltenham.

He’s availability could give Johnson’s side a much-needed boost, due to the striker’s ability to run in behind and stretch opposition defences.

The away supporters certainly recognised his return, with many rising to their feet to applaud when Broadhead came on for Aiden O’Brien in the 82nd minute.

Pritchard, who had been struggling with a neck issue, also missed out at Rotherham but came on when his side were 3-0 down here.

The playmaker at least brought a bit of urgency to the team even if it was too little too late.

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