Tommy Smith nodded the winner from close range eight minutes after the break as the Blues came from behind to beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 at Portman Road. Ross Wallace had put the Owls in front in the 19th minute but Freddie Sears equalised two minutes later.
Mick McCarthy made two changes to the team which started last week’s 2-2 opening day Championship draw at Brentford with Christophe Berra and Jonathan Douglas replacing Josh Emmanuel, who dropped to the bench, and Kevin Bru, who is out with a hamstring injury.
Berra was in his usual position at the centre of the defence with skipper Luke Chambers returning to right-back.
Left-back Jonas Knudsen and winger Ainsley Maitland-Niles made their home debuts, while Douglas was making his first league start for Town. Former Wednesday midfielder Giles Coke was on the bench.
Wallace saw an early shot deflect wide as the visitors looked the more threatening side early on.
In the fourth minute Marco Matias took the ball inside Chambers from the left before hitting a low shot which struck the post and fell safely for the Blues. Moments later, Douglas was booked for a late tackle midway inside the Town half.
The Blues started to make some impact at the other end of the field and on seven Daryl Murphy turned Maitland-Niles’s corner from the right towards goal but Owls keeper Keiren Westwood saved at his left post.
Town began to dominate, winning a number of corners, and on 11 Murphy curled a strike from the edge of the box that his Ireland team-mate Westwood palmed away.
Fraser went close on 18 after Maitland-Niles crossed deep from the right, the on-loan Bournemouth man’s shot deflecting off Jack Hunt and over. From the resultant corner the ball was flicked onto Sears but the Blues frontman was unable to get in a shot.
Despite the Blues having been on top, Wednesday went ahead in the 19th minute. Matias got the better of Smith on the Owls left and cut the ball across. Bialkowski was only able to get a hand to it and Wallace smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
But the lead lasted only two minutes. Wednesday skipper Glenn Loovens and Jeremy Helan allowed a Chambers long ball to bounce between them and Sears nipped in behind to slam a low shot between Westwood and his near post from a tight angle to claim his first goal of the campaign.
As the game moved towards the half-hour mark there was a lengthy stoppage to allow keeper Westwood - a Town target during Roy Keane’s time in charge - to undergo treatment after clashing with Maitland-Niles after Fraser had sent over a cross from the left. Eventually he was able to continue.
On 31 Cole Skuse made an important saving challenge as Matias looked to get onto Lucas Joao’s clever flick inside the area after the Portuguese forward had broken into the box on the left unchallenged.
Maitland-Niles moved into the centre of the midfield in the closing stages of the half with Sears switching to wide on the right as Town matched the visitors’ five-man midfield.
After the lengthy break for Westwood’s injury the game rather lost its momentum with chances rare at either end in the final 10 minutes of the half.
However, as the fourth official raised his board Sears nutmegged Helan and brought the ball to the edge of the box before hitting a deflected shot which Westwood claimed to his left.
Maitland-Niles moved to the left and Fraser to the centre for the remainder of injury time but the Blues were unable to create any more opportunities before the break.
After Wednesday had started strongly, the Blues got on top and the visitors’ goal came against the run of play. Having got back on terms with a goal the Owls management will have been less than impressed by, Town might well have pushed on but they lost their impetus after the break for Westwood’s injury and only rarely threatened in the final minutes of the half.
The Blues started the second half brightly and on 47 Fraser broke into the box and was bundled over claiming a penalty, however referee James Linington awarded a corner. From the flag-kick, Berra’s far post header was hacked off the line by McGugan.
Sam Hutchinson was booked for a foul on Skuse, before Knudsen was bizarrely penalised for a foul throw in front of the dug-outs, despite having been pulled back by a Wednesday player as he took it, much to the annoyance of manager McCarthy and the home crowd.
Town had looked much the more dangerous side since the restart and in the 53rd minute they went in front.
A deflected cross from Maitland-Niles - now back on the right flank - reached Fraser on the left and the Scotland U21 international brought the ball inside past Joao before crossing. Westwood could only get a hand to it and Smith nodded home his first of the season from a matter of inches.
Six minutes later, Owls keeper Westwood was replaced, gingerly making his way to the touchline evidently still feeling the effects of his earlier knock.
Joe Wildsmith took over in goal, making his Wednesday league debut, and was quickly into the action, saving a Sears effort from inside the area. Maitland-Niles’s subsequent header deflected wide.
Fraser scraped a shot wide after excellent work from Sears on the right in the 65th minute with Town continuing to look threatening going forward.
Three minutes later, Skuse played a freekick across the edge of the area to Sears but the former West Ham man’s shot flew well into the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.
In the 70th minute Fraser was yellow-carded for a cynical trip on the breaking Joao, Wednesday’s Alex Lopez joining him in the book for the vehemence of his protests regarding the Blues’ winger’s foul.
Bialkowski palmed Wallace’s cross from the right over in the 74th minute before David McGoldrick and Brett Pitman replaced Fraser and Maitland-Niles, who were warmly applauded off the field. Murphy moved to the left and Sears to the right.
McGoldrick and Sears exchanged passes on the right in the 77th minute, the earlier scorer hitting a shot which hit a defender and looped through to Wildsmith.
Knudsen sent in a long throw from the left which Wednesday defended well as the game moved towards its final scheduled 10 minutes. Pitman was now on the left and Murphy back in the centre.
Douglas was replaced by former Owl Giles Coke in the 87th minute, the ex-Brentford man receiving a rapturous reception from his new fans as he made his way off.
Within a minute Berra saw another header from a corner cleared off the line, this time by Kieran Lee, then Pitman lashed well over after Murphy’s ball from the left had been cleared out to him.
Wednesday put Town under pressure in what was a nervy four minutes of injury time with a number of dangerous balls flying into the box and eventually cleared, in some cases somewhat desperately.
Moments before the final whistle the Owls almost claimed a point when Joao hit a deflected shot from 25 yards but Bialkowski superbly got down to his left to push it around the post.
Overall though, Town had been on top in the second half and Joao’s late shot was Wednesday’s only significant opportunity after the break.
Town started the second half brightly and got their goal and looked the more dangerous side for much of the second half, although the performance perhaps never matched last week’s display at Brentford.
Having claimed four points from their first two Championship games, the Blues find themselves sixth in the table with Burnley at Portman Road on Tuesday.
Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Knudsen, Berra, Smith, Skuse, Douglas (Coke 87), Maitland-Niles (McGoldrick 74), Fraser (Pitman 74), Murphy, Sears. Unused: Gerken, Tabb, Emmanuel, Touré.
Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood (Wildsmith 59), Hunt, Helan, Lees, Loovens (c), Hutchinson (Nuhiu 62), Matias, McGugan (Lee 79), Lopez, Wallace, Joao. Unused: Palmer, Semedo, Sasso, Sougou. Referee: James Linington (Newport Isle-of-Wight). Att: 20,081 (Wednesday: 1,700).