Forest woes continue

Sheffield Wednesday triumphed 2-0 to claim their first win at the City Ground since 2001 and pile yet more pressure on beleaguered Nottingham Forest manager Stuart Pearce.Owls boss Stuart Gray is close friends with Pearce and his assistant Steve Wigley, but he did them no favours as goals from Kieran Lee and Chris Maguire, either side of half time, earned the visitors a simple win.With Forest now having won just two of their last 20 games in all competitions, Pearce is under increasing pressure, with a trip to fierce rivals Derby County looming next weekend.Wednesday's resurgence continues, however, as their third Sky Bet Championship success on the bounce propelled them closer to the play-off places.The Owls arrived at the City Ground with one of the best defensive records in the division and it was easy to see why, with Forest finding their chances limited.Jamaal Lascelles had to produce a fine tackle to deny Jacques Maghoma as the Wednesday man threatened to ghost clean through, while Jose Semedo lashed a shot wide of the post, as the visitors looked to hit Forest on the break.It was top scorer Britt Assombalonga who looked the most likely to make something happen for the home side, with the striker seeing one shot charged down following good work on the edge of the box and a header deflected wide of the post.When a goal kick was awarded following his second effort, Pearce strode onto the pitch looking to confront referee Andy D'Urso, before thinking better of it and retreating back into his dugout.Robert Tesche was denied by a fine close range save from Keiren Westwood, who showed impressive reactions, as Forest forced a flurry of corners.But Forest's lack of cutting edge was to cost them, as the visitors edged their way into the lead on the stroke of half time. When Stevie May delivered a cross from the right, Tesche cleared off the line to deny Atdhe Nuhiu, but Lee was on hand to drive the ball inside the post from close range.Pearce brought on loan signing Gary Gardner at the interval, just hours after his move from Aston Villa was confirmed. But the midfielder had little time to make an impact before Wednesday had doubled their lead.Maguire showed an impressively cool head when an attempted clearance fell his way, switching the ball onto his left foot before driving a crisp low finish into the back of the net from 12 yards, as the Forest defence stood still.It might have been 3-0 had Dorus De Vries not made an outstanding save to push away a powerful effort from May, with Tom Lees driving wide from the rebound. The best Forest could muster in response was a header from former Wednesday man Michail Antonio, which Westwood dealt with smartly, although Assombalonga did have a reasonable penalty appeal turned down, after Claude Dielna had climbed on his back. Substitute Lars Veldwijk missed a golden chance to give Forest a lifeline late on.Jamie Paterson also came close to a goal in injury time, but that was the closest Forest came to a fight back on a painful afternoon for the Reds.