Well that was rather nice wasn't it? Like having a nice walk on a breezy, sunny day or finding a fiver in the pocket of your jeans just before you put them in the wash. Last night was just a nice, easy watch as United won their second game on the bounce with a comfortable 2-0 victory against relegation threatened Peterborough thanks to goals from Billy Sharp and an own goal from West Brom loanee Callum Morton. I don't want to keep on banging on about how easy last night's game was in this opening paragraph so I'll end this here and get on with the review.
No changes to the starting XI from the win against Luton but new signing Adam Davies did make the subs bench, replacing Jake Eastwood on the bench. There was no place in the Peterborough squad for Siriki Dembele who looks like he's leaving The Posh for either Bournemouth or Birmingham City (delete as applicable). Jack Marriott and Jonson Clarke-Harris led the line who both scored in the reverse fixture. United were out of the blocks quickly and threatened the Peterborough net twice in the opening five minutes. Brewster darted onto a Basham long ball and sent a cross across the face of the box that nobody could quite get onto and then a corner from Hourihane was met by the head of John Egan but the Ireland international put the ball back into the box rather than getting it on target. Brewster was in behind Peterborough again not long after and hit another cross across the face of goal that was just too far for Billy Sharp to get onto the end of. Unfortunately, this would be Brewster's last action in the game as he pulled his hamstring after the delivery and was replaced by McGoldrick who mere moments after coming on brought down a long ball but sent it high and wide in classic McGoldrick fashion. A cross by Norwood was nearly met by Sharp shortly after as United continued to press for an opener. Jayden Bogle was the first player to actually test Benda in the Peterborough goal with a driven effort that was straight at Benda and put behind for a corner. Peterborough came into the game a bit more after this opening salvo of pressure with Fuchs unleashing a well struck effort that was straight down Wes's throat. Despite all our pressure, our lack of a cutting edge almost looked costly as Peterborough probably had the best chance of the game on the cusp of half time. Clarke-Harris was set free by a lovely through ball but Wes managed to get off his line quickly and snuff out the chance with a nice save. United then had their own guilt edged chance to open the scoring after a well worked corner eventually found the head of an unmarked John Egan who had the freedom of the box to put his header where he wanted. He duly put it over the bar. That was the last real action of the half and United were left wondering how they'd not scored at least on and were at least a little bit thankful that they didn't go into the break a goal down. Despite their late resurgence before the half, United manged to regain control of the match from Peterborough and opened the scoring 9 minutes after the restart. Good work around the box eventually saw Norwood chip a ball towards Sharp that went to a Peterborough defender. The ball wasn't cleared however and Sharp won the ball back and curled in a low shot that beat Benda and gave United the lead and made sure Sharp was now all alone as the highest scoring player in Championship history. Norwood was next to have a pop at goal but his effort from just outside the 18 yard box was turned away by Knight in the Peterborough defence. Norwood was causing havoc again not long after with his tackle eventually seeing Sharp through one on one with Benda but Sharp took a heavy touch and despite the ball dropping to McGoldrick the chance was cleared. However, United wouldn't be denied much longer and the second goal to secure the win came not long after that. a corner from Norwood caused panic in the box and after Basham knocked the ball into the six yard box, Callum Morton tapped the ball past his own keeper to secure the win and the 3 points for United. A really professional performance from the lads last night. After the disappointment of the Preston result, we've responded in the best way possible with two wins and two clean sheets. The standouts from last night have to be Oli Norwood and Jayden Bogle. Norwood has come in for a bit of stick from some (myself included) over the past two years for some truly abhorrent performances but he's brought it back a bit this season and these last few weeks I think he's been one of our better performers. This is how you get the most out of Norwood, if you can give him space and protect him he can orchestrate play at a very high level. He ran the midfield last night and was very deserving of his MOTM award. Jayden Bogle continued to stake his claim for the starting RWB shirt with a very good performance. His footwork and dribbling ability has to be up there as one of, if not the, best at the club. Plus, his ability to get in the box and get shots or crosses off is something we've not had in a wing back really since Kieron Freeman was in his pomp. A very good night for the young ex-Derby man and a good night all round for The Blades. So, onto Birmingham for another Friday night fixture against The Blues. Until next time, UTB.
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A response was needed from the fiasco of Tuesday night and during yesterday's second half we got one. United secured their first win of 2022 with a commanding and dominant performance against a Luton side that were pretty poor despite coming into this game on the back of a few good wins in recent weeks including a win last week against promotion chasing Bournemouth. However United managed to nullify The Hatters effectively with our opponents having just four shots throughout the game and only one on target that came during the first half. It was the dictionary definition of a professional performance from The Blades. Whilst you go and look up the definition of 'professional performance' we'll get cracking with the match review.
One change was made from the XI that started at Deepdale with an injured Enda Stevens making way for ex Luton loanee Rhys Norrington-Davies who was making his first home league start since Derby County at home back in September. Luton's most notable inclusion in their XI was probably Cameron Jerome. The ex Norwich and Birmingham City striker is now 36 and led the line alongside Admiral Muskwe for the visitors. There wasn't a lot of action in the first half with United probably having the better chances with a Rhian Brewster howzinger from 25 yards just evading the near post of James Shea's goal. There were a few half chance for Bogle and RND but Luton probably had the best chance to score in the half when Jerome pounced on a low ball from the left with Wes getting down quickly to deny the striker the opener. Luton would actually have the ball in the net during the opening exchanges with a curling Henri Lansbury free kick finding the head of Sonny Bradley that the Luton man slammed home but thankfully the goal was called offside. So 0-0 at the interval, would the second half be any better? It would you know! It only took 3 minutes after the break for United to break the deadlock and it came via that man Brewster. A lofted ball was only cleared as far as Jayden Bogle on the corner of the Luton box which our young wing back swung his leg which led to a cross-cum-shot that Brewster expertly trapped and swivelled to fire an effort through the legs of Shea and give United a lead early doors in the half. Three minutes later and the lead was doubled! A free kick from Norwood was curled just outside the six yard box with Jack Robinson, yes really your eyes don't deceive you, having a free header that he forced home to give United a cushion and more or less finish Luton off. United continued to create the better opportunities with Brewster having another chance to score when he was left all alone after some good work from a corner. Our young striker may have been a bit too eager however and his volley went high and wide for a goal kick. RND went close a few times with his best effort probably being a low drive that was diverted over the bar by a Luton leg. Brewster would prove to be a nuisance again after he and Burke chased after a floated ball forward that left the Luton man no choice but to bring Rhian down. This resulted in a straight red and a sense of deja vu floated around The Lane. 2-0 up, Brewster gets a man sent off, surely we wouldn't repeat Tuesday would we? We wouldn't. Instead, United continued to pile the pressure on in search of a third but despite efforts from McBurnie, RND and Hourihane going close it wasn't to be. But a commanding performance more than made up for it as the final whistle blew and United had their first 3 points of the year. This is how you play a game when you opposition goes down to ten men. Instead of the lack of tempo that we displayed on Tuesday, United kept pressing and harrying Luton after Burke was sent off that led to us creating more chances for ourselves as well as keeping the game firmly in Luton's half and not really giving them a sniff of our penalty box let alone our goal. I've said it so much during this review but it really was just a professional performance from United. The first half was a little bit drab but we still had chances to take the lead and we just capitalised on that in a really good second half showing where I think 2-0 flattered our opposition. The stand outs from yesterday have to be our young guns. Brewster, Bogle and Ndiaye were all terrific and caused nightmares for Luton all afternoon. Ndiaye was constantly moving and driving the team forward, Bogle was likewise on the right flank with his footwork and penetrating runs causing the Luton right back all sorts of problems and, finally, Rhian Brewster. It was a brilliant second half from Rhian who took his goal extremely well and ran off the shoulder of the Luton backline like a seasoned pro which eventually led to him getting another defender sent off. We're beginning to see signs of his high potential on a more consistent basis now and hopefully he continues to get in the right places and get some of the piledrivers off on goal. Special mention must also go to our other goalscorer. Seeing Jack Robinson score a game winner for Sheffield United was very funny but to be fair to Jack he had a very solid game today. He picked off some dangerous passes and was really good in the air against taller strikers, more of this please Jack. All in all, just a really good performance! Onto Peterborough we go! Until next time, UTB. After nearly two months of not watching United either live or in the flesh, I decided that last night's rearranged fixture would be a nice way to spend my evening. Yes, we might have lost to a club that is bottom of the league and on the brink of not existing but surely we can't be that bad for two games running can we? Well, for 70 minutes it looked like a pretty good decision, we'd taken a commanding lead at half time and had a fair few chances to further extend our lead against a side that was down to ten men from the 40th minute of the match onward. Surely it was just a matter of time for us to secure a first league win of the year? 20 Minutes later and that question was answered with an empathic answer. That answer being no, no we couldn't secure our first league win of the year against 10 men. Somehow, someway, United managed to throw away a two goal lead against ten man Preston with a minute left of normal time on the clock. It was disappointing to say the least. Well, enough build up, let's review the game.
Changes were made from the eleven that started against Derby at the weekend with Brewster, Stevens and Hourihane all back. Derby had former Blades in their matchday 18 with Ben Whiteman starting and Ched Evans on the bench. United had the first chance of the game with John Egan meeting an Robinson long throw that was an easy save for Daniel Iversen. Preston were the first team to truly test a keeper when a lapse in concentration from Jack Robinson (shock horror) led to a three on two for The Lilywhites but Hughes was denied thanks to a brilliant save from Foderingham. This woke United up a bit and a darting run from Ndiaye eventually saw the academy product force a save from Iversen for a corner. A few minutes after this United took the lead! A corner from Hourihane was eventually recycled to just outside the penalty area were Jayden Bogle was there to meet it first time on the volley with his low, hard effort going between Iversen's legs and nestling in the net. United had their tails up a bit now and Brewster was the next player to test Iversen but his effort from distance was comfortable for the Preston keeper. All our hard work was nearly undone however when Jack Robinson (AGAIN) tried to play a ball back to Wes that had about as much power on it as a sloth attempting to file a tax return. Thankfully, Wes was alive to the danger and managed to sweep up trouble before Sinclair could profit. Thankfully, United managed to double our lead before Robinson could think of any other ways in which to jeopardise our slender lead. Good work on the right eventually saw Brewster running through on goal with Hughes pulling down our record signing before he could get a shot off. The ref pointed to the spot and sent Hughes packing. After all that, Billy Sharp stepped up to take the penalty and dispatched it to give us a commanding two goal advantage and give Sharp his 121st goal in the Championship. The whistle went shortly after for half time and United could be very happy with the work we'd done so far. Surely that won't change? The second half started with good work from United eventually seeing Ndiaye hit a curling effort from just outside the box that kept Iversen honest. However, Preston almost pulled a goal back in their very next attack when a Barkhuizen cross was met by Browne who's header left Wes pulling off a fine save to protect the two goal lead. United began to make the man advantage count a bit, first, a cracking ball from Stevens set Brewster free but his effort screamed over the bar with Iversen quite a fair distance off his line. Brewster sent another effort hurtling above the crossbar not long after but should have probably laid the ball off to Hourihane who was in acres of space just behind him. Daniel Johnson tested Wes not long after this with a venomous volley from an acute angle that our no.18 comfortably caught. Preston were at it again shortly after with good midfield play eventually seeing Evans set up a dummy that Egan failed to read with Riis having his initial effort saved and the follow up getting caught up in his feet before he could get an effort off on goal. Preston pressure did eventually pay off with Subbuteo-esque defending from United allowing Daniel Johnson to fire in a cross that Browne got of the end of and slotted home to reduce the arrears. The game swung in the favour of the hosts after this despite their numerical disadvantage. Bogle did try his best to get something off in the Preston box at one point but he was crowded out before he could get a shot off. Preston's probing eventually did pay off in the 89th minute with an Evans cross met by Riis which the Preston man duly dispatched to give the 10 men an unlikely point and leave United wondering what the hell just happened. Mentality is a big word in sport. The teams that have the strongest mentality usually are able to triumph more often than not or be able to put disappointment behind them and get results. This Sheffield United team does not have the mentality to be a successful team. Countless times this season we've taken a lead in a game but have let our opposition back in it due to an apparent lack of ability to manage a game correctly. Good teams do not let Preston come back into that game when they are 2-0 up and have a numerical advantage for 50 minutes of a game. Questions need to be asked about how we go about improving our ability to defend and build upon leads because this just isn't good enough. Excuses are running thin now, we either need to buck our ideas up, or continue to be the bang average team that we are at the minute. Luton on Saturday will be a very interesting watch and maybe not for all the right reasons. Until next time. UTB. |
AuthorHi my name is John and i will be giving my thoughts on the blades matches and all blades related news in this section Archives
November 2022
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