Sheffield Wednesday manager Garry Monk praised his team for responding to their “terrible week” by beating Bournemouth 1-0 to end their four-match losing run and record a first home victory since February.
Barry Bannan was the match-winner with a second-half penalty, with Bournemouth’s Steve Cook sent off for conceding the spot-kick while Wednesday’s Kadeem Harris also saw red in stoppage time.
Bannan’s strike ended a run of three games without a goal for the Owls, who were thrashed by Rotherham before losing to struggling Wycombe in their last two matches.
Monk said: “I thought we were excellent from start to finish and got exactly what we deserved. I’m happy for all those players, the staff and the fans.
“No-one expected us to win tonight but it’s funny how football works.
“We had a terrible week last week and quite rightly people begin to doubt you. It shows you how quick things can change.
“It’s a good marker and a good answer to what was a terrible week last week.
“We had everything tonight. It was a complete performance, with a result as well.
“Criticism is part of all this. Last week it was fully justified.
“I see how hard these guys work. When we deliver to the right level, we’re a good team and we compete.
“It feels like a reset. You’ve seen the right response tonight. It’s a huge three points as they all are this season.”
Josh Windass was bundled over in the area by Cook with Bannan making no mistake from the spot after 71 minutes.
Harris was sent-off in stoppage time for violent conduct.
Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall said: “It’s really disappointing. I felt there was one team fighting for their lives tonight and there was another team that turned up and thought that their ability would be good enough to win the game.
“I think that’s the lesson we’ve got to learn from tonight. We’ve got to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“When we had the opportunity to show a little bit of control and calmness in the game, I felt we didn’t do that for large periods of the game.
“We like to think that we create a lot of chances and we’ve got players that will score goals and make a difference. Tonight we didn’t see that, for whatever reason.
“We were way below our standards and that’s something we need to look at and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“It (the penalty) was a very soft decision, I must say. It was the one moment that decided the game.”
