It is not often that a Sheffield Wednesday defeat disappoints both halves of a divided city. This was that rarity. There will be no Sheffield derby in the quarter-finals, no guarantee the Steel City will be represented at Wembley. Instead, goals from Callum Harriott and Simon Church decided an eventful game to give Charlton the prize of a trip to Bramall Lane for a tie between a Sheffield United side already in League One and an Athletic team flirting with demotion to the third tier.

Both had secured impressive victories on Saturday but, kicking off some 51 hours after the final whistles blew in their respective wins, the rash of changes the two managers made was inevitable. Between them, Stuart Gray and Chris Powell made 11 alterations.

Charlton featured five new faces but settled the quicker. The speedy Harriott darted clear on the left and centred to provide Astrit Ajdarevic with the first clear-cut chance. Glenn Loovens flung himself in the path of the Swede’s shot but the rebound also fell for Ajdarevic. His second attempt took a deflection and rolled just past the far post of a wrong-footed Damian Martínez.

If it illustrated the dangers Ajdarevic and Harriott posed, Wednesday failed to heed the warning. Pressure mounted, with Charlton delivering dangerous crosses from either flank before Ajdarevic’s low drive ricocheted back into the path of Harriott, who dispatched his half-volley past Martínez with an emphatic thump. It rendered it all the more surprising that this was Harriott’s first goal of the season or, indeed, that the winger is rarely spotted in Powell’s starting line-up. While they were belying their lowly league position, Wednesday scarcely resembled a team who had been in fine form since Gray replaced Dave Jones at the helm. They were overly direct and nervous in possession until a delay when Giles Coke fell awkwardly on his wrist spurred them into action.

First Gary Gardner and then Leon Best unleashed beautifully struck long-range shots and, although Ben Hamer gathered both, he was altogether less convincing when he spilled a corner and afforded Benik Afobe the chance to take aim. Charlton’s defiant defenders came to their goalkeeper’s rescue. Chances and controversy began to come hand in hand. As Church burst past Miguel Llera, he went to ground. Rather than award a free-kick and answer the question if Llera was the last man, referee Mark Clattenburg ignored Church’s appeals.

Briefly, the sense of injustice seemed to galvanise Charlton. Johnnie Jackson’s skimming shot went narrowly wide but, just when the visitors seemed to have reclaimed the initiative, Wednesday equalised. Llera met Chris Maguire’s free-kick with a header across a crowded penalty box and Leon Best swivelled to lift his shot into the roof of the net. Gray promptly made a double change and one of the newcomers, Atdhe Nuhiu, almost scored immediately.

Instead, the tie turned again. Jackson whipped in a free-kick and, anticipating it, the predatory Church stooped to head in.

Wednesday thought they had mustered a second equaliser. The set-piece specialist Maguire was again the provider, delivering a corner that Atdhe Nuhiu met with a forceful header that bounced off the post before Hamer smothered it. The substitute was convinced it had crossed the line. The officials ruled otherwise and the Sheffield dream died.

• Sheffield Wednesday
• Charlton Athletic
• FA Cup

Richard Jolly

theguardian.com