As Chris Wilder says that his team has “dodged a bullet”, here is Aaron Bower’s report on Sheffield United’s win.
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Declan Rice is understandably seething on Sky Sports.
We’re fuming, really. All the lads in there are livid. It’s a tough place to come they’ve been excellent all season and they grinded it out again.
The goal at the end that’s a tough one to take because a point on the road would have been very good for us... I’m in a forward running motion and he’s headed the ball to my arm. I’ve not intentionally meant to handball it.
It’s a real kick in the teeth. I think it’s the thoughts of every Premier League player, I don’t think anyone wants VAR.
I can’t get over it to be honest, it’s crazy.
Looks like it will be another night of rage towards VAR! For the record, I’m with Michael Owen here. The ball clearly hit Rice’s arm. In this case at least, VAR simply enforced a questionable rule.
What a joke VAR it’s disgusting it really is, Rice can do nothing about that whatsoever totally ruined the premier league. It’s honestly disgusting how fans have to put up with this #SHUWHU
— Jamie Ohara (@Mrjamieohara1) January 10, 2020
This new handball rule is an absolute joke. People will moan about VAR but that’s rubbish. VAR did it’s job. It’s the rule change that is bollocks. #SHUWHU
— michael owen (@themichaelowen) January 10, 2020
John Fleck, one of the best players on the field today, is feeling very lucky:
For the majority of the game we weren’t good enough for the ball. I think we got lucky at the end.
Goalscorer Oli McBurnie to Sky Sports:
We’re due one [favourable VAR decision]. We’ve been done a couple of times this season and it’s nice for one to go for us.
The gaffer’s got into us at half time. Fleck did magnificently and I think I tried my best to miss it at the end!
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FULL TIME: Sheffield United 1-0 West Ham
With a late, dramatic VAR check, Sheffield United claw onto their victory. A tough, tight match decided by one moment of goalkeeping madness.
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GOAL DISALLOWED! Sheffield United 1-0 West Ham
Tenacious work from Declan Rice, who bullied Baldock off the ball and then found Snodgrass who slotted the ball home. But the ball hit Rice’s hand in the build up and VAR makes no mistake. The new handball rules state that there can be no contact with the hand in the build up. Disallowed!
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GOAL! Sheffield United 1-1 West Ham United (Snodgrass 90+1))
Snodgrass levels at the death!
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91 mins: As 3 minutes of added time are announced, Sheffield United drive at West Ham and Baldock forces a save out of Martin from a tight angle.
89 mins: Anderson doesn’t exactly look great, but he is back on the pitch.
88 mins: Another free kick, another brilliant delivery from Snodgrass who immediately finds the forehead of Haller. Sadly for the Hammers, Haller’s header was not nearly as good - he headed downwards and it bounced well away from the goal. A big chance there.
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87 mins: After about 30 seconds of assessment, Anderson is up and walking gingerly as he goes off for some treatment.
86 mins: We have our first yellow card! Mo Besic hacks down Felipe Anderson and rightfully goes straight into the ref’s book. Anderson is still down...
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84 mins: A couple of substitutions for both teams as they both make their final changes. Billy Sharp replaces scorer Oli McBurnie for the Blades and Pablo Fornals replaces Manuel Lanzini for the Hammers.
82 mins: A huge chance for West Ham! I was just about to write about how careless West Ham were in possession, only for Egan to define carelessness by slipping with the ball and offering Lanzini a clear opportunity on goal. Lanzini shot hard at Henderson’s near post and the Sheffield United keeper was once again equal to it.
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77 mins: A lovely free kick from Lanzini! Sheffield United keeper Henderson hasn’t had much to do so far today, but he awakens with a great diving save to keep the home team in the lead. Great work from all. More please.
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75 mins: This game is finally opening up and starting to deliver on its promise. Sheffield United had the ball an advanced position, desperately trying to pick the West Ham defence open, but in the blink of an eye West Ham are now standing over the ball with a free kick in a dangerous area...
73 mins: Big chance for Sheffield United! Fleck sent Mousset clear with a glorious through ball. Martin somewhat redeemed himself with a great save from Mousset’s low strike, but the Sheffield United striker really should have scored.
70 mins: Another change for Sheffield United. Besic replaces Lundstram.
69 mins: Snodgrass comes on and immediately whips in a beautiful free kick. Haller volleys it into the goal but it’s a false alarm. Offside.
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68 mins: A first change for West Ham. Robert Snodgrass, who scored in West Ham’s home fixture earlier in the season, replaces Masuaku. Seems like West Ham are reverting to a back four.
64 mins: Quite a big chance for Sheffield United! They very nearly burnt West Ham with a brilliant, quick transition, but Ludstram’s strike was just deflected for a corner. West Ham survive.
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61 mins: That howler from David Martin was so dire that West Ham lost their composure in the immediately aftermath with too many panicked loose passes, but the game has now resumed its slow-burning tempo as before. Clearly, West Ham will have to be a little more adventurous.
59 mins: A first substitution for Sheffield United as David McGoldrick is off for Lys Mousset. Another game without a goal for the United talisman but also another decent shift.
GOAL! Sheffield United 1-0 West Ham United (McBurnie, 54)
A complete howler of a goal kick from Martin finds Fleck, who calmly passed across the goal to McBurnie. The Sheffield United striker had the easiest finish he could ask for and he made no mistake. Truly horrendous goalkeeping.
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49 mins: Big chance for Fleck to break the deadlock! A cross from the right flank evaded everyone and found the midfielder on the edge of the box. He absolutely obliterated a first-time left-footed strike which collided with Zabaleta. The rebound rolled straight back into his path and his second strike just flew wide.
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From Brian Withington:
A pleasingly quiet first half from an away team perspective - nice to see Haller and Anderson putting a shift in.
Yep, it has certainly been an organised and composed performance from David Moyes side so far.
Second half
West Ham kick things off in the second half. Can they keep the home side at bay?
33% – Three of the nine Premier League games this season to see no shots on target during the opening 45 minutes have involved Sheffield United (against West Ham (tonight), Aston Villa (December) and Man City (December)). Lively. #SHUWHU pic.twitter.com/aOYuysHOAF
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 10, 2020
The first half finished with 5 shots each from Sheffield United and West Ham United, but crucially no shots on target from either team. Gary Neville on Sky Sports is understandably disappointed with the home side: “They’re not playing with any of the urgency we’ve seen.”
From Ian Sargeant:
“Is this the first game where the summary of the first half contains 300 z’s?”
Only 300?
Half Time: Sheffield United 0-0 West Ham United.
A half to forget. A couple of small chances from both teams, but not much else. You have to think that Moyes will be far happier with keeping a dangerous Sheffield United at bay but it wasn’t exactly glorious from either team.
45 mins: Two minutes added on, but not much is happening here in truth.
An incredibly important factoid.
Pablo Zabaleta is the first outfield player with a Z in his surname to make 300 Premier League appearances.
— Richard Jolly (@RichJolly) January 10, 2020
41 mins: That was a decent period of possession from Sheffield United, with Fleck picking up the ball and dribbling in space before finding Norwood. Norwood flicked in a cross from the right towards McBurnie at the far post, but the striker just couldn’t reach it. Again, their quality on the final ball is just lacking right now.
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37 mins: Sheffield United win another corner and this time Lundstram manages to get his head on it but his header flies well wide of the post. We go on.
33 mins: Masuaku takes a pot shot from distance after a sleek interchange between Lanzini and Zabaleta, but his strike was well long. In truth, this has not been the liveliest half of football so far. Sheffield United have been better on the ball but have lacked quality in the final third. West Ham are slowly improving in possession but they need more.
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30 mins: The corner came to nothing, only for West Ham to create their first big chance of the game! Egan misjudged his backwards header off a long ball from Martin. The ball found Anderson who took a couple of strides into the box before rolling his strike across the goal. Not good enough.
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28 mins: West Ham are starting to find more of the ball in advanced areas and they have won their first corner after a deflected cross. Lanzini to take it...
It is worth noting that Lukasz Fabianski’s lengthy layoff with a hip injury earlier this season, which seriously hurt the Hammers, was also after a goal kick. If he is smart, we may have just seen the Pole attempt his final goal kick.
From Peter Oh:
From a club crest perspective, this match-up is about as tough as it gets. A crossed pair of swords versus a crossed pair of hammers. Hopefully the symbolism doesn’t translate into bludgeoning football devoid of subtlety and flair.
I second that. No bludgeoning please.
22 mins: A tough tackle from Lundstram on Cresswell and he is done for a free kick as the West Ham full back limps off the damage. Expect more aggressive tackling from the home team.
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19 mins: Another big chance for the home side after Anderson conceded a free kick. Fleck’s free kick rebounded to Lundstram in the box, who connected with a decent volley but he sent it straight at Martin who scuppered the danger. A confidence building save from the West Ham keeper.
17 mins: Another corner for Sheffield United comes to nothing. West Ham attempt to break, but Noble’s attempt at a through ball sends the ball straight back to the home side.
15 mins: West Ham get their first shot of the day after Anderson picked out Haller with a divine ball across the field. Haller’s attempt wasn’t quite as pleasing, with it flying high into the crowd as he slipped onto his butt.
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14 mins: West Ham United are forced into their first substitution as David Martin replaces Lukasz Fabianski. The Pole understandably looks distraught.
13 mins: Oh dear. Lukasz Fabianski, who only recently returned to injury, is down on the floor with injury. It seems like he pulled his quad after a goal kick. His game is already over.
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12 mins: That was close. Norwood whipped in a lovely corner and it found the head of Egan, who just headed it over the bar. The first decent chance of the game.
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11 mins: Sheffield United continue to command possession. A really nice turn from McBurnie, who picks out Stevens on the left. Zabaleta does just enough to get the ball out for a corner...
8 mins: The first corner of the evening goes to Sheffield United. Norwood’s delivery came to nothing but United recycled their possession and moved forward again. Stevens whipped in a nice ball, but there was nobody in the box to get on the end of it. A nice period of possession for the home team.
5 mins: A weak backwards header from Baldock towards Henderson almost caused some problems for the Sheffield United defence. Manuel Lanzini chased it down and challenged Henderson, but he gave away a free kick in the process. Not too much happening early on.
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4 mins: Things are just settling down here but Jack O’Connell seems to have landed awkwardly after leaping for a header and he is limping a little. Hopefully he will run it off.
And we’re off!
Sheffield United kick things off tonight. Let’s see how this one goes.
Is it time?
35 - David McGoldrick has had 35 shots without scoring in the PL this season, more than any other player. The longest a player had to wait for their first goal last season was Harvey Barnes, who netted his first goal with his 38th effort for Leicester in 2018-19. Anxious. #SHUWHU pic.twitter.com/MOeZxAjuRC
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 10, 2020
Chris Wilder spoke about his new contract and another new game on Sky Sports:
Delighted to commit, it’s a fabulous club close to my heart. We’re going well and hopefully good times ahead.
[On maintaining their position in the league] Onto the next game and see if we can get a result. We’ve created this so you’d rather have it this way than the other. Going into the premier league it’s something you want more of.
[On whether he believed his team would do so well] It’s a lot of apprehension around and quite rightly so because of the lack of experience. I’ve never managed at this level and the players, aside from Jagielka, haven’t. Always the aim for a newly promoted team is to get a foothold in the division... But we want more and there’s a lot of belief in the changing room that we can carry on into the new year.
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📊 Pablo Zabaleta becomes the 3rd South American player to make 300 PL apps
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) January 10, 2020
325 Antonio Valencia 🇪🇨
302 Nolberto Solano 🇵🇪
300 Pablo Zabaleta 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/7KJK6INHoB
The team news:
Just one change for Sheffield United, with Oli McBurnie replacing Lys Mousset in the starting eleven.
Three changes to West Ham’s starting eleven, with Pablo Zabaleta, Mark Noble and Aaron Cresswell all back. Robert Snodgrass, who scored against Sheffield United earlier in the season, and Issa Diop move to the bench. Ryan Fredericks is out with a hamstring injury.
When asked if he had shifted from a 4-4-1-1 to a 3-5-2 in his second Premier League game, Moyes was pretty coy: “I want to be flexible. I don’t want to be tied down in any way. So, we’ll see.”
The teams:
Sheffield United: Henderson; Basham, Egan, O’Connell; Baldock, Lundstram, Norwood, Fleck, Stevens; McBurnie, McGoldrick.
Eastwood, Sharp, Mousset, Jagielka, Robinson, Osborn, Besic
West Ham United: Fabiański; Zabaleta, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Anderson, Rice, Noble, Masuaku; Lanzini; Haller.
Martin, Cardoso, Diop, Ngakia, Rosa, Snodgrass, Fornals
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Sheffield United owner Prince Abdullah Bin Mosaad Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was just discussing Chris Wilder’s new contract on Sky Sports:
We are very excited. he has been a big part of the club’s success. Stability is very important. I think we’re very happy with Chris’ record and we’re looking forward to another four and a half years, with a fifth season optional. I told Chris when I met him that we will be coming to him soon before he approach[es] us with a new contract. I think he has earned it.
Sheffield United have announced that Chris Wilder (and his assistant, Alan Knill) has signed a contract extension until 2024. And rightly so.
Chris Wilder - 2024 ✍️ pic.twitter.com/OqdDLum3S1
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) January 10, 2020
May we also not forget that Sheffield United and West Ham United have some history.
And here is Paul Doyle on David McGoldrick.
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Some required reading today: Jacob Steinberg’s very nice interview with Michael Antonio.
Preamble
David Moyes could not have wished for a better first game back in charge of West Ham United on New Year’s Day. Their 4-0 win over Bournemouth was arguably their best fixture of the season, sealed by a brace from the talismanic Mark Noble and a much needed goal from Sebastien Haller, who started the new year with only one goal in his prior eleven games. Morale has risen and the squad is surely enjoying the fresh feeling of new beginnings, but today’s clash with Sheffield United was always going to be a clearer reflection of where they are in these early days of Moyes’ second reign. Moyes said as much in his press conference, preaching resilience and ruggedness ahead of their trip to Bramall Lane as he highlighted Pablo Fornals, Manuel Lanzini, Sébastien Haller and Felipe Anderson as some of the decisive players for his team in the coming weeks. Against Bornemouth, Moyes shifted from Manuel Pellegrini’s trusted 4-2-3-1 in favour of a “simple” 4-4-1-1. He has still had almost no time to work with his new team, yet the Premier League waits for no one and we will again wait to see what he has to offer against extremely tough opposition.
Sheffield United return to Bramall Lane under slightly different circumstances, having just reckoned with the most brutal pair of Premier League fixtures there are. United acquitted themselves well enough in their away games against both Manchester City and then Liverpool, but after being passed off the park by the excellent league leaders last Thursday, they will be relieved to be facing mere mortals again. Just a quick look at their position in the league (still 8th) and the number of goals they have conceded this year (still just 21, behind only the aforementioned teams) says plenty about the excellent season they continue to enjoy under the inventive and impressive Chris Wilder. For United, tonight presents an opportunity to return to winning ways in the Premier League after a difficult week.
