Football, bloody hell! Sheffield Wednesday stunned Peterborough in an all-time great game to progress to the League One promotion play-off final

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Sheffield Wednesday completed an insane historic four-goal comeback to power after Peterborough on penalties in the play-off semi-finals.

Sheffield Wednesday trailed 4-0 on aggregate in the second leg 5-1 to force a penalty shootout.

What happened? Needing to overturn a four-goal deficit to force extra time and keep their championship hopes alive, Michael Smith continued on Wednesday with an early penalty, before Lee Gregory gave Hillsborough the heartfelt hope of achieving the seemingly impossible in a second. The goal before the end of the first half.

The score remained 2-0 until the 71st minute when defender Reece James came home to score a grandstand feat. For 20 minutes at least, it looked like it wasn’t quite going to happen for Darren Moore’s side, until very late when Liam Palmer scored the fourth goal – in the eighth minute of six minutes into extra time. He came home after an Aden Flint header kept the ball alive after a scrimmage in the Peterborough box.

What’s more: That goal sent the game into extra time amid wild celebrations from Wednesday’s fans who couldn’t quite believe what they saw. It looked as if it could all be for nothing, though, when Peterborough momentarily silenced the home crowd in extra time, with Gregory forced to convert his own net to give the visitors the advantage once again.

But Wednesday produced more magic to make it 5-1 through an irrepressible Callum Paterson as the match went to penalties. Peterborough’s Dan Butler hit the bar in the penalty shootout, then Jack Hunt slotted home the decisive penalty to complete Wednesday’s fantasy win, leading to a pitch invasion.

What they said: “We had a strong belief, and honestly we did,” Moore said of his team after the game. “We showed them videos of a great comeback in the week. The mentality was right.”

Opposition manager Darren Ferguson came away with a less enthusiastic note: “We made some wrong decisions and obviously then in the last minute of the game – you don’t want to sound bitter, because I don’t – but there are six minutes.” [added on] And we play eight. It’s not true, but congratulations Sheffield Wednesday. We don’t know what the future holds, so this is not the time to answer that. I’ve got a lot of players up there and the lads will have to remember this, because it’s a painful night.”

In five photos:

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The bigger picture: They were last in the Championship in 2020-21 and last in the Premier League in 1999-2000. They were the first team in Football League history to score 96 points and not be automatically promoted. This is undoubtedly one of their best wins in recent memory – although they will need to be careful not to be disappointed in their next game.

did you know Sheffield Wednesday are the first team in Football League play-off history to qualify for the final despite losing the first leg of the semi-final by four goals.

What then? Barnsley or Bolton await in the League One final for Moore, who will certainly feel he can do anything next.

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