Wednesday ease past Oxford

Sheffield Wednesday progressed to the third round of the Capital One Cup following a 1-0 victory at home to Oxford United.Wednesday created the lion's share of chances and Atdhe Nuhiu struck the winner early in the second half.Keeper Sam Slocombe came to Oxford's rescue on more than one occasion, producing good saves to deny Tom Lees and Marco Matias.Oxford had the first chance of the match when Cheyenne Dunkley got on the end of a corner from Alex MacDonald, but his header went wide of the target.Wednesday's first opportunity also came from a corner, taken by Ross Wallace, with a header from Lees saved on the line by Slocombe.Wednesday's Vincent Sasso then fired off-target from an acute angle.At the other end, Ryan Taylor also missed the goal with a long-range effort.The home side enjoyed a good spell, with Wallace putting a low shot wide and Kieran Lee trying a shot from distance which was comfortably saved by Slocombe.Nuhiu also found himself in a promising position when Jack Hunt floated over a cross from the right, but he failed to direct his header on target.Another chance came Wednesday's way when they were awarded a free-kick just outside the area, but Wallace put his effort well over.Oxford were forced to make a change just before the break when Sam Long was taken off on a stretcher after suffering an injury in a challenge with Caolan Lavery. Liam Sercombe was sent on as Long's replacement.The breakthrough came when Nuhiu scored with a close-range header after the Oxford defence failed to deal effectively with a cross from the left.The visitors threatened to produce an instant response when Callum O'Dowda found himself in space inside the area, but he put his shot wide.MacDonald then sent over a cross from the left which picked out Joshua Ruffels, who headed over.Substitute Matias went close to increasing Wednesday's lead midway through the second half when his far-post header from Sougou's cross forced a fine save from Slocombe.Lee and Nuhiu found themselves in a promising position on the break, two on one, but they failed to take advantage as the Oxford defence managed to scramble the ball clear.With the click ticking down, Oxford were awarded a free-kick from the edge of the 'D' in the last minute of the game. MacDonald took it and his driven effort was not too far over, much to the relief of Wednesday keeper Lewis Price.The result extends Wednesday's unbeaten run at home since the start of the season to four games.