RECORD-breaking Cherries ruthlessly picked off 10-man Sheffield Wednesday to hit the Championship summit with a 2-0 victory at Hillsborough.

Second-half goals by Andrew Surman and substitute Ryan Fraser came within eight minutes of Owls winger Royston Drenthe’s dismissal for a second bookable offence to settle a cagey contest in which clear chances were at a premium.

Cherries had been more enterprising than their defensive hosts but struggled to find a way through during the first half as Wednesday sought to stifle the play from the outset.

But the visitors made hay amid the chaos before comfortably seeing out the game to rack up a sixth straight second-tier victory and third consecutive away win in the second flight and overtake previous leaders Watford who surprisingly lost 2-1 at Birmingham. 

Boss Eddie Howe named an unchanged starting XI with captain Tommy Elphick shaking off a knock picked up against Brighton on Saturday to retain his place in the heart of the Cherries defence.

In a tight, tentative start, Cherries made most of the running with Howe urging his side to press a nervy looking Wednesday during the opening exchanges.

But the first meaningful effort came the home side’s way after 10 minutes with Atdhe Nuhiu teeing up Drenthe to shoot tamely at Artur Boruc from 20-plus yards.

Matt Ritchie’s deliberately deep corner was a little too high for the retreating Marc Pugh to get enough on his far-post header to trouble Owls keeper Kieren Westwood as Cherries, comfortable in possession, struggled to make headway against their deep-lying hosts.

Jacques Maghoma gave Boruc something to do after 20 minutes with a low, fizzing drive from the left which the Pole did well to push away from the far corner with Charlie Daniels mopping up the danger as Nuhiu sought to pounce.

It took Cherries half an hour to prise open their stubborn hosts but their first shot on target should have produced the opener with full-back Simon Francis cutting back to Callum Wilson who found himself in space but could only scuff his shot at Westwood.

Brett Pitman was on hand to follow up but Westwood was quickly out to gather.

Cherries gradually upped the ante and the home crowd grew increasingly frustrated towards the end of the half with Pugh and Ritchie firing in harmless attempts from the edge of the box.

Maghoma flashed a fierce shot across goal before Giles Coke lofted a poor effort over the crossbar but most of Wednesday’s efforts were from outside the penalty area thanks to a dearth of incisive play in the final third.

Cherries might have profited from a break on the stroke of half-time with Pugh rolling to Ritchie whose low shot across goal was tipped round the far post by Westwood.

The visitors were almost caught cold at the start of the second half when Wednesday defender Tom Lees saw a looping header brush the roof of the crossbar after Boruc had misjudged a Drenthe corner.

Wednesday continued to pose a threat, albeit from arm’s length with full-back Liam Palmer handsomely clearing the crossbar from a half-cleared corner.

But it was Cherries who should have taken the lead after 57 minutes when Pitman was threaded through to guide the ball to Wilson.

Cherries' man-of-the-moment burst into the box only to fire his effort well wide of the near post with team-mate Pugh screaming for a cut-back.

Then came the game’s turning point when Drenthe was shown a second yellow card by referee Mike Dean for an innocuous-looking slide on Pugh which looked careless at worst.

And within four minutes, Cherries took the lead with a slick, passing move ending with Surman peeling away from his marker just inside the penalty area to curve a well-placed shot past the exposed Westwood.

The visitors then landed the knockout blow with Wilson played onside by Helan to race onto a well-weighted pass and slide the ball out to Fraser who finished round the on-rushing Westwood with aplomb.

The game petered out from there with substitute Yann Kermorgant wasting a good opportunity right at the end, the Frenchman finding Fraser before taking back the ball and firing well over the crossbar.

STAR MAN - CALLUM WILSON

As if we didn't already know, but there is much more to this man than just his goals.

On a tough night in which Cherries endured a dour battle, Wilson stuck to the plan and kept pushing, harassing and probing for a breakthrough.

He may not have scored this time but had hand in both goals and richly deserved the plaudits once again.

MATCH FACTS AND STATS

Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood, Palmer, Loovens, Lees, Helan, Drenthe, Lee (Dielna, 78), Coke, Maghoma, Nuhui, Maguire (May, 66).

Unused subs: Semedo, Taylor-Fletcher, McCabe, Young, Kirkland (g/k).

Booked: Drenthe, Maguire.

Sent off: Drenthe.

Cherries: Boruc, Francis, Cook, Elphick, Daniels, Ritchie (Fraser, 66), Surman, Arter, Pugh, Pitman (Kermorgant, 66), Wilson (Rantie, 87).

Unused subs: Smith, Harte, Gosling, Camp (g/k).

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).

Attendance: 16,881.