Do West Brom still bang on about shepherds being their lord? I've always found that association pretty tenuous, is there a lot of sheep and or shepherds near The Hawthorns? Answers on a postcard if you please, anyway, United were back at it again after the draw with Norwich last week with struggling (ironic considering our form) West Brom next up for the Blades who begin the post Bruce era of their existence (which I think every club in the country has had at this point) with Carlos Corberan taking the helm for his first game after taking over. Would the new manager bounce help those boing, boing Baggies? Or would United cut down the Throstle's? Let's find out.
A trio of changes for United today with McBurnie, Doyle and Ndiaye returning to the starting XI. Enda Stevens returned to a matchday 18 for the first time since Watford on opening day. United would start quicker out of the two teams and after ten minutes took the lead! Some nice build up play saw Doyle loft a ball in behind The Baggies backline for Baldock to burst onto with his cross seeing McBurnie whiff on the shot but, thankfully, Iliman Ndiaye was there to trap and curl home for his 7th goal of the season. A dream start and it was almost euphoric moments later as McBurnie saw a looping header narrowly clear the bar and settle behind the net as our hosts struggled to clear a corner. Despite our recent struggles, United looked every inch the team that set the league ablaze in the early weeks during the first half hour and we had our second just before the 25-minute mark with a goal involving our two attackers. A West Brom attack was broke up and the ball found it's way to Illi who proceeded to proverbially pants two Brom midfielders and break with McBurnie to his left. Our Senegalese star laid the ball off to our Scottish sniper who cut inside and curled home from just outside the box for his 7th of the season and just like that we've got a front two that know where the goal is. It's rare for United to have two strikers in such a rare vein of form and is something we've been looking for since the 18/19 promotion season with Dave (miss you Dave) and Billy. Looks like we've finally got our attacking twosome, long may their rich vein of form continue! As we approached the break, our hosts began to creep into the game with Wallace and Diangana both having shots from distance go close but with no cigar. Matt Phillips went closest to getting a goal back for the hosts with his effort from just outside the box forcing Davies to save low to his right. Despite the late pressure, United would nearly get a third and it was that man Ndiaye going close again. A punt forward reached Illi despite it looking like he was miles off. Linesman nor ref called for offside however and Illi was one on one with Erik Peters (yes, he still plays football) with his effort deflecting off the ex-Dutch international (yes, really) and just looping over the crossbar with Palmer well beaten. Not long after this the half time whistle blew, and all looked good for the boys in red and white. Could it continue? It sure looked like it after the break as United looked to fully kill off the game. Intricate play from Doyle saw him play in Illi who rounded the keeper but couldn't quite slot home and instead nestled the side netting. We were in the ascendency with more good play seeing Osborn have an effort blocked then minutes later Norwood went close with a curling effort that he perhaps should have done better with. West Brom decided they wanted to try and attack our goal so brought on Swift and Molumby to ask some questions. They did, to be fair, with Molumby having a crack that just miss the post. Swift was next up to have a go, but his effort was just a bit too high to truly worry Davies. Molumby was back at it again as we entered the last 10 with another strong effort that forced Davies into an unconvincing parry. Norwood did his signature 'shot flying over the bar' routine that was mildly amusing and then West Brom actually tried to score! Can you believe it? Yeah, me neither but they tried. A scrambled corner was half cleared by United, and Brandon Thomas-Asante saw a header knocked off the line by Anel and the follow up from Reach (lol) was turned away for a corner. The huffs and puffs continued but it just wasn't to be and United tamed the sheep herders with a very professional performance indeed. Just a really decent away performance and just all-round performance from United today. We took our chances, limited theirs', and defended like Fernando Alonso on El Plan juice. Really nice just to see us close a game out after the madness of Blackpool and Norwich to be honest. Yeah, was really good, wasn't it? I'll tell you this for free, let's get Illi tied down to a lifetime contract yeah? That guy is a truly special talent. He really is the best academy talent we've had since Brooksy and I don't want him to leave. He's ace. Stay forever Illi? Anyway, Bristol City Tuesday, let's get after them Blades! Until then, UTB.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
Categories |