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Southampton are unbeaten in eight matches in the league Southampton continued to charge towards the play-offs extending their unbeaten run to eight games with a comfortable win at League One bound Sheffield Wednesday. First-half strikes from full-backs James Bree and Ryan Manning put Saints in control of the contest at half-time with a toothless Wednesday struggling for a foothold. While Jerry Yates briefly raised the temperature at Hillsborough after the break with only a third goal of 2026 for the hosts, jeopardy proved shortlived with Taylor Harwood-Bellis putting the game to bed. Another victory for Tonda Eckert's seventh-placed side keeps them four points behind Wrexham, in sixth. No team in the Championship has greater recent momentum than Southampton and this victory provided yet another moment to marvel at the job done on the south coast by Eckert. Having taken over a club at the start of November in 20th place and nervously looking over their shoulders at the prospect of joining their hosts here in the third tier, the transformation under the 33-year-old German has been eye-catching, despite a wobble either side of Christmas. Their unbeaten run has seen them latch on to the coat-tails of the play-off contenders and, if they can keep up this form, there would appear to be every chance of them making the top six. For Sheffield Wednesday is was a 12th league defeat in a row at the end of another difficult week. On Sunday they became the earliest ever relegated side from the English Football League with defeat at bitter rivals Sheffield United and in midweek a proposed takeover fell through. . Saints were out of the traps early, Bree opening the scoring with his third goal in four games. The right-back poked home from seven yards out after a corner, initially cleared, was recycled at the second attempt by Leo Scienza. His left-sided counterpart, Manning, added a second from a free-kick in stoppage time at the end of the first half after Liam Palmer had upended Kuryu Matsuki on the right corner of the box. Manning's left-foot hit, whilst well hit inside the near post, should have probably been stopped by the wall. Yates headed a bit of hope into proceedings after Saints failed to clear their lines from a corner on 57 minutes, finishing off a sequence of headers from seven yards out. But Saints put the game and the points to bed a quarter of an hour later with Harwood-Bellis replicating Bree's earlier effort from an uncleared corner on 71 minutes. From there to the final whistle Southampton weathered a spirited finish from Wednesday, Ingelsson seeing a shot blocked and Palmer forcing a fine save from Daniel Peretz in the final few seconds. Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield: "I think they put all on the pitch what they could today. We played a fantastic team in Southampton with strong individuals and a strong team. "The boys played a really strong second half and at 2-1, we had possibilities, then again a set-piece goal for 3-1. But at 3-1, we still had a go, we still had chances and put pressure on them. "I hate to lose but I'm so proud of the players. "It's easy to show who you are when everything is smooth, everything goes well and you win football games. "But to show who you are, in a third game in six days when Norwich had one day extra, when Southampton had one day extra, to show so much character, so much personality, I can only be proud of them. " This video can not be played Pedersen: 'I can only be proud' After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 28th February 2026 at 16: 59 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Henrik Pedersen Formation: 3 - 1 - 4 - 2 Manager: Tonda Eckert Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Henrik Pedersen Formation: 3 - 1 - 4 - 2 Manager: Tonda Eckert Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Sheffield Wednesday have lost their last five league games against Southampton, their joint-longest losing run against the Saints (also five between 1999 and 2006). Southampton have won their last two away league games against Sheffield Wednesday, never before winning three consecutive visits to Hillsborough. Sheffield Wednesday are winless in their 17 home league games this season – only Sunderland (18 in the Premier League in 2005-06) have had a longer winless run at home from the start of a campaign in English league history. Southampton have won their last two away league games, last winning more consecutively in December 2019/January 2020 (4). Southampton's Léo Scienza has been directly involved in three goals in his last three Championship away games (1 goal, 2 assists), as many as in his first 10 league games on the road for the Saints (2 goals, 1 assist). Match ends, Sheffield Wednesday 1, Southampton 3. Second Half ends, Sheffield Wednesday 1, Southampton 3. Handball by Cameron Archer (Southampton). Attempt saved. Liam Palmer (Sheffield Wednesday) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner by Daniel Peretz (Southampton). Assisted by Svante Ingelsson. Attempt missed. Svante Ingelsson (Sheffield Wednesday) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right following a corner. Substitution, Sheffield Wednesday. Will Grainger replaces Sean Fusire. Corner, Sheffield Wednesday. Conceded by Samuel Edozie. Attempt blocked. Sean Fusire (Sheffield Wednesday) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jerry Yates. Fourth official has announced 4 minutes of added time. Substitution, Southampton. Oriol Romeu replaces Cameron Bragg. Cameron Bragg (Southampton) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by Cameron Bragg (Southampton). Svante Ingelsson (Sheffield Wednesday) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Attempt missed. Samuel Edozie (Southampton) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Ryan Manning. Corner, Sheffield Wednesday. Conceded by Tom Fellows. Corner, Sheffield Wednesday. Conceded by Taylor Harwood-Bellis. Substitution, Southampton. Samuel Edozie replaces Léo Scienza. Substitution, Southampton. Tom Fellows replaces Kuryu Matsuki. Substitution, Sheffield Wednesday. Joel Ndala replaces Jamal Lowe. Substitution, Sheffield Wednesday. Joe Emery replaces Dominic Iorfa. Copyright © 2026 BBC. 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