Sheffield Wednesday 1 Sunderland 1

Simon Grayson’s side emerged from Hillsborough with their unbeaten start to the season intact, but having cruised to victory at Carrow Road three days earlier, this was a much more fraught examination.

Had they taken their chances, they could have been out of sight for a second away game running, but with James Vaughan wasting a glorious opportunity to add to George Honeyman’s fourth-minute opener, it always felt like one goal would be insufficient to kill off a Sheffield Wednesday side that look a pale imitation of the team that reached the play-off semi-finals last season.

The Owls were insipid for the opening hour, but David Jones’ long-range equaliser hauled them level, and Sunderland spent the closing stages of the game desperately trying to keep the home side out.

They just about managed, although Gary Hooper struck the crossbar with Jason Steele beaten and substitute Jordan Rhodes also wasted an inviting late opportunity to steal all three points.

Grayson will have been pleased with his side’s resilience in the closing stages, and once again, there were glimpses of real quality in Sunderland’s counter-attacking play. A win and two draws still represents a fine start to the Championship season, but this was a reminder of just how tough the next eight-and-a-half months will be.  

Having watched Sunderland outplay Norwich at the weekend, Grayson would have been desperate for his players to pick up where they had left off at Carrow Road. Four minutes in, and they were on the goal trail again.

In reality, Sunderland’s opener came in the first full minute of football as the action to that point had consisted of Sheffield Wednesday full-back Jack Hunt receiving treatment on the edge of his own area. Hunt eventually hobbled off the field, and the Black Cats exploited his absence mercilessly.

Vaughan released an overlapping Aiden McGeady into the gap where Hunt should have been, and having set up Lewis Grabban’s second goal on Sunday, the winger produced another pinpoint delivery.

Honeyman took a couple of touches to get the ball under control, but with Wednesday’s marking non-existent and the home side’s goalkeeper, Keiren Westwood,  badly out of position, the midfielder was still able to drill a crisp low finish into the net. Having opened his Sunderland account in the Carabao Cup win at Bury, Honeyman is proving a potent attacking asset on the right-hand side.

The goal prefaced an opening period in which Sunderland’s counter-attacking capabilities threatened to tear Wednesday to ribbons. With Vaughan and Grabban continuing to link effectively in attack, and McGeady delivering a succession of dangerous set-pieces, the main disappointment from the visitors’ point of view was that the interval arrived without their lead having been extended.

Grabban and Billy Jones both went close with near-post headers set up by McGeady, while former Black Cat Westwood got down well to keep out Brendan Galloway’s low effort shortly before the break after the full-back had been teed up by Cattermole.

Cattermole’s central-midfield partnership with Ndong was the key to preventing Sheffield Wednesday enjoying too much joy at the other end, and retaining both players will be one of Grayson’s key objectives for the remainder of the transfer window. Money talks, and if a sizeable bid is received, the decision will almost certainly be taken out of his hands. As things stand though, the Sunderland boss can call on one of the best central units in the second tier.

They were much too good for opposition duo Jones and Almen Abdi for the opening hour last night, and as a result, Wednesday were forced to focus much of their play on the wide positions.

Former Middlesbrough full-back Adam Reach offered a sporadic threat down the left, but Steele was only forced to make one first-half save. Hooper touched Reach’s low cross into Sam Winnall’s path, but Steele was equal to the striker’s low shot.

Sunderland’s resilience was also a product of Lamine Kone’s blossoming relationship with Ty Browning, and while there remains a nagging suspicion the Ivorian is playing for a move, his attitude in the wake of relegation still merits praise.

Kone found himself marking former Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher in the second half after Owls boss Carlos Carvalhal opted for a half-time change of both formation and personnel, and the visitors found themselves devoid of possession for long periods of the second half.

They still posed an occasional threat on the break – a diving Vaughan came within inches of connecting with Grabban’s cross after a flailing Westwood once again went missing – but as the evening wore on, Sunderland’s primary focus shifted to holding on to what they had.

Their night would have been much more comfortable had Vaughan not blazed wastefully over on the hour mark after McGeady’s blocked shot fell invitingly into his path, but within minutes of the miss, Steele was forced into action at the other end, tipping Hooper’s looped header over the crossbar.

Still, though, Sheffield Wednesday’s plentiful possession was not reflected in a weight of opportunities, with Sunderland snappiness in the tackle enabling them to shut down the bulk of their opponents’ play before it got near the 18-yard box.

It felt like it was going to take something remarkable to change the course of the evening, and it duly arrived with 20 minutes left.

Kone played a rare slack ball out of defence, but there still looked to be little in the way of danger when Jones picked the ball up more than 30 yards out. The Wednesday midfielder clearly thought otherwise though, and drilled a sensational long-range strike beyond Steele’s right hand.

Suddenly, the game was changed. Carvalhal brought on Rhodes in pursuit of a winner, and the former Middlesbrough striker almost obliged with a header that looped over the top after Fletcher had nodded the ball down.

An almighty scramble moments later ended with Honeyman making a crucial tackle on his own goalline, and Wednesday came within inches of a winner with seven minutes later as Fletcher teed up Hooper for a rising drive that clipped the top of the crossbar.