Sheffield Wednesday brush aside Rochdale to reach round three

Superb long-range strikes in the first half from Jaden Brown, Fisayo Dele-Bahsiru and Dennis Adeniran saw Sheffield Wednesday beat Rochdale 3-0 to advance to the third round of the Carabao Cup.

After Callum Paterson put a long-range effort over, Brown found the net with a fine 25-yard effort following a corner in the 23rd minute.

A rare attack from the visitors saw James Ball try an effort from distance which went well wide.

Dele-Bashiru matched Brown’s effort with an equally impressive shot from around 25 yards out to increase Wednesday’s lead nine minutes before the break.

And in the 44th minute Adeniran scored arguably the best goal of the night when he collected the ball in the centre circle and advanced through the middle before beating Cieran Slicker with an unstoppable shot on the run.

The home side appeared content to sit on their lead in the second half, with Rochdale enjoying plenty of possession but failing to pose a real attacking threat.

Wednesday had a chance to score a fourth when Sylla Sow squared to Paterson inside the area, but Ethan Brierley did well to nip in ahead of the striker to make a vital clearance.