Sheffield Wednesday returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-0 Championship victory at relegation haunted Plymouth.
An own goal by Nathanael Ogbeta and strikes from Callum Paterson and Djeidi Gassama enabled Wednesday to end a three-match losing streak.
Basement side Plymouth have now failed to win in five league games, and this was their third defeat in a week following last week’s FA Cup knockout at Manchester City and the damaging midweek loss to relegation rivals Hull.
Argyle started on the front foot with makeshift striker Mustapha Bundu forcing Wednesday goalkeeper James Beadle into a diving save from his 20-yard effort in the opening minute.
Bundu then teed up Nathanael Ogbeta to try his luck from the same distance on the left in the second minute, with the wing-back’s shot flying wide.
On-loan Leeds midfielder Darko Gyabi made it three goal attempts in three minutes as his header forced a save from Beadle, before Callum Wright headed a cross across the face of goal in the fourth minute.
Wednesday’s Josh Windass went close with a header from Shea Charles’ 12th-minute before the visitors took a 15th-minute lead.
Svante Ingelsson did well to keep the ball in down the left, with Argyle appealing it had gone out. The Swedish midfielder then looped a cross in over Conor Hazard in the Argyle goal and Ogbeta, under pressure from Gassama, knocked the ball over the line.
Charles looked set to score when put in on goal by Windass in the 23rd minute but the attacking midfielder’s first-time effort went inches wide from inside the box.
Matthew Sorinola’s cross from the right in the 27th minute pinballed around the Wednesday six-yard box before being headed over by Spanish central defender Julio Pleguezuelo.
Wednesday surged 2-0 ahead in the 41st minute after a brilliant passing move, again involving Ingelsson.
Windass dribbled in from the left wing, found Ingelsson on the byline with a neat pass and the Swede’s square ball across the area was hammered home by Paterson.
Argyle boss Miron Muslic made a triple half-time substitution, reintroducing fit-again striker Ryan Hardie who had scored five times in three games before suffering a back injury at Blackburn, but it had little impact.
Windass was again instrumental in setting up Gassama for Wednesday’s third goal in the 68th minute with a brilliant defence-splitting pass. Gassama held off substitute Victor Palsson before sending an unstoppable low angled drive from the right past Hazard.
Hazard made a superb 77th-minute save with his outstretched leg to deny substitute Michael Smith as he cut in from left and looked set to score.
Smith missed a golden opportunity to make it 4-0 in the third minute of stoppage time but fired wide from 12 yards after latching on to Pol Valentin’s pinpoint cross.
