Sheffield Wednesday travelled to Sunderland in last night’s League One play-off semi-final. They travelled back to South Yorkshire having been beaten 1-0 by the Black Cats.
It was a tight game with both sides working hard to not gift the other any advantage in this first game of a two-legged series.
Despite its tight nature, Sunderland will take an advantage into the second leg. This comes about due to Ross Stewart’s only goal of the game – his 25th of a productive campaign.
On the opposite side of the coin, Sheffield Wednesday had too many players who failed to shine.
One of those players was forward Saido Berahino. Here’s how he did in last night’s game at the Stadium of Light.
Saido Berahino dull in Sheffield Wednesday defeat…
The 28-year-old Berahino joined Sheffield Wednesday from Belgian side Zulte Waregem in August 2021.
Across the Owls’ 2021/22 League One campaign, the 15-cap Burundi international made 29 appearances, scoring eight goals and adding four assists.
However, that didn’t translate to the pitch against Sunderland and Berahino was pulled on 56 minutes and replaced by Dean Windass.
As per WhoScore’d match data, Berahino failed to shine and completed just six passes at an accuracy of just 55% during his time on the pitch.
He failed to get into position to loose off a shot at goal and didn’t really put himself about – he saw just 1.2% of the ball.
He missed both tackles he went for, Sunderland players dribbling past him on both occasions and his only contribution other than his six completed passes was the one header that he won.
Even then, this was one completed against another four where he was bested in the air.
It was definitely a disappointing night for Berahino, a night where he was largely ineffective. Both he and Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping for a reverse of this when the teams meet next week at Hillsborough.
