West Brom 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1 - Report and pictures

At the start of October, it was Harvey Barnes's moment of magic that salvaged a draw but in the final game of 2018 it was club captain Chris Brunt's toe.

Brunt had been taking the corners all game, but then, in the fifth minute of injury time, he got on the end of one, scrambling the ball home at the back post to send a packed-out Hawthorns into delirium.

The match was bookended by goals from corners, with Sheffield Wednesday's Atdhe Nuhiu's touching home an opener in the fifth minute from five yards.

But Albion's unbeaten run, which is now nine matches, had looked destined to end when they were reduced to ten men in the 65th minute after Jay Rodriguez was adjudged to have stamped on Marco Matias.

Whether he intended to land on the Wednesday man's leg while jumping over him or not, only he will know.

Replays suggest it was soft, and there may be an appeal because with Dwight Gayle already injured, this is arguably the worst time for Rodriguez to pick up a three-game ban.

The red card seemed to wake Albion up because it took them until the 70th minute to register an effort on target.

Thanks to a combination of wayward finishing and impressive defending from Sheffield Wednesday, the division's top scorers were kept out on their home turf until injury time.

Darren Moore made four changes to his side. Dwight Gayle and Ahmed Hegazi both missing out through hamstring strains while Gareth Barry and Matt Phillips were rested due to fixture congestion.

In their place came Kyle Bartley, James Morrison, Chris Brunt, and Bakary Sako, who started just his second game for the Baggies.

Having won two games in a row since Jos Luhukay were sacked, Wednesday arrived at The Hawthorns in fine form thanks to caretaker manager Lee Bullen, who was emulating Moore's own impact in temporary charge.

And the Owls got off to the perfect start, taking the lead in just the fifth minute through a goal that should have been avoided.

Tosin Adarabioyo was under little pressure when he conceded the corner, but when Adam Reach swung it to the back post, it was headed back across goal for Nuhiu to touch home from five yards out.

Albion responded, with Harvey Barnes curling an inviting cross into the six yard box that just evaded Sako.

The former Wolves man then headed a Morrison ball back across goal which Wednesday hacked clear.

The Baggies were seeing most of the ball with Morrison especially busy, but they were struggling to get through an obdurate visiting backline who had the perfect out-ball in big targetman Nuhiu.

But midway through the half, Sam Johnstone was called into action when Adarabioyo was undone by a glorious Barry Bannan cross-field pass that went over his head and fell onto the feet of Marco Matias.

The Wednesday winger shot across goal, but Albion's No.1 got down well to save.

That chance seemed to reinvigorate the Owls, who started to gain the upper hand, and for a while the Baggies were clinging on.

Johnstone made another save on the half-hour mark, kicking away a downward header from a corner.

Wednesday's onslaught was halted when Adam Reach was forced off with a hamstring problem, and Moore used the break to give his team some much-needed instruction from the touchline.

Sako and Barnes swapped wings, and each looked a bit livelier.

Sako got his first sight of goal when Morrison slipped him in with a nice pass, but once again, there was a yellow leg in his way.

Things had to improve in the second half, and within the first three minutes both Sako and Brunt had whipped dangerous balls into the box.

Barnes and Gibbs then carved open a chance with a one-two in the box, but the cross was hacked clear.

Then, shortly after the hour mark, Albion's uphill battle got even steeper when Rodriguez was shown a straight red card for an apparent stamp on Matias.

Referee Andy Davies checked with his assistant before dishing out the card, and the Baggies striker shrugged his shoulders as he jogged off, but the visitors seemed pretty incensed by the incident.

Moore immediately made a triple substitute in an effort to get back into the game, sending on Barry, Phillips and Robson-Kanu.

And the striker nearly repaid his head coach straight away, drawing Dawson into a fingertip full-length save with a header back across goal. It was the team's first effort on target.

The ten men did their best to get something from the game, with Barnes sparkling on the left and Brunt testing Dawson from range.

But too many crosses were overhit, too many free-kicks were wasted.

Then, five minutes into six minutes added on, Phillips put a corner bang on the money, and Brunt got enough contact to scramble it home via deflection before wheeling away to Woodman Corner with a broad beam on his face.

Key moments

05 GOAL OWLS - Reach swings in a corner which is touched back across goal for Nuhiu to scramble home from close range.

65 RED CARD - Jay Rodriguez is sent off for an apparent stamp on Marco Matias.

66 Moore makes a triple sub in an attempt to get back into the game.

90+5 GOAL ALBION - Brunt scrambles home an equaliser.

Man of the match

Michael Hector - Wednesday centre-back was superb alongside Lees.

Position in the table

3rd, with 46 points from 25 games.

Teams

Albion (4-3-3): Johnstone, Adarabioyo (Phillips 66), Dawson, Bartley, Gibbs, Morrison (Barry 66), Livermore, Brunt (c), Barnes, Sako (Robson-Kanu 66), Rodriguez.

Unused subs: Myhill, Mears, Hoolahan, Harper.

Sheffield Wednesday (4-1-4-1): Dawson, Palmer, Lees (c), Hector, Fox, Hutchinson (Jones 75), Bannan, Reach (Pelupessy 36), Matias, Boyd, Niuhu (Winnall 80).

Unused subs: Wildsmith, Fletcher, Thorniley, Baker.

Referee: Andy Davies

Attendance: 26,548 (2,720 away)