Get the lowdown from Bramall Lane:
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A deflated Eddie Howe speaks. “Hugely frustrating, the two goals we conceded were hugely disappointing,” says the Bournemouth boss. “We maybe lost that concentration for a split second. Both halves we sat in, were good in our structures and broke very well. We had a number of counterattack opportunities but we need to defend better in those two moments. It takes all of the polish off [recent progress]. We are going to need to try and dig out results.”
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Chris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager, speaks. “They [Bournemouth] deservedly went in front, we never really got ourselves into the game but we gradually grew into it,” he says. “There is no let-up from us, there are no comfortable footballers in our changing room – they have always got something to prove. The skip [captain Billy Sharp] has come back in – it has been difficult for him – but his leadership speaks volumes of his character. I wish we had a game next week, but we’ll come back [from a winter break in Dubai] refreshed for the next part of the season.”
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Sheffield United goalscorers Billy Sharp and John Lundstram speak. “We are doing fantastically well and now we are trying to look above us and try and catch them [Chelsea] now,” says the Sheffield United skipper. “[Europe] is not in our heads but we have a little bit of time now to regroup. We will keep pushing each other to get results.” Lundstram says: “There is always a bit of frustration when you are not playing, that is part and parcel of the game, but when you do get your chance all you can do is take it.” Lundstram certainly did that, earning their first win in three league matches.
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Full-time: Sheffield United 2-1 Bournemouth
Chris Wilder’s side are up to FIFTH place, two points off fourth-placed Chelsea. Sheffield United took a while to get going but, once they did, Bournemouth struggled to live with their intensity and caved in. Sheffield United will jet off to Dubai for a well-earned winter break in exceedingly good spirits. Bournemouth, for whom Ryan Fraser was revitalised, did not do an awful lot wrong but will be kicking themselves when they watch those Sharp and Lundstram goals back. A big thumbs-up from Wilder at full-time.
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90+4 min: Francis is booked for fouling Oli McBurnie.
90+3 min: Baldock calmly nods Adam Smith’s searching cross into the hands of Dean Henderson, the Sheffield United goalkeeper. Chris Wilder’s side are almost there. But Bournemouth are still probing ...
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90 min: There will be four added minutes.
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90 min: Nathan Ake heads narrowly wide!
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90 min: .. Henderson punches clear. Bournemouth get the throw-in and then Mousset swings a wild kick at the ball to clear. Bournemouth corner ...
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89 min: Mousset is booked for a clumsy challenge on Billing. Bournemouth will send a ball into the box from 40-odd yards ...
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88 min: Dominic Solanke replaces Andrew Surman.
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87 min: Bournemouth have been punished for inviting too much pressure. Moments before Lundstram struck, Ryan Fraser was replaced by Junior Stanislas. It is fair to say Fraser was not exactly best pleased as he departed.
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GOAL! Sheffield United 2-1 Bournemouth (Lundstram, 84)
Is that the winner? Lundstram slots home after Mousset comes alive in the box, collecting a Basham ball before coolly it on for the substitute to do the rest. Lundstram’s first touch is perfect and his finish is cultured and clinical. Wilder bounces down the touchline, Eddie Howe shakes his head in disbelief.
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83 min: Sheffield United fizz in a corner. Ake – again – clears.
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82 min: Ramsdale takes the sting out of another Sheffield United attack, comfortably gathering an aimless Norwood free-kick.
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80 min: Fraser floats a wonderful ball towards the back post, but the unmarked Philip Billing elects to try and hook it goalwards, rather than head at goal. And not for the first time this afternoon. Fraser makes it known that the midfielder should have attacked the cross with his head. That was a good chance.
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77 min: Sheffield United very nearly take the lead! The marauding Baldock eludes the Bournemouth left-back Diego Rico to collect a brilliant cross-field ball by O’Connell and then slides a pass into Oli McBurnie, who nudges it on to Mousset. It seems inevitable that the Bournemouth goal will ripple, but Adam Smith, Simon Francis and Nathan Ake all go to ground to attempt to block the shot. In the end it is Smith who denies Mousset a goal against his former club.
74 min: Ex-Bournemouth man Mousset replaces Billy Sharp.
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74 min: ... they do the exact opposite and try to outwit Bournemouth with a bit of quick-thinking, but Norwood overcooks a pass for Lundstram.
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73 min: Gosling is penalised for fouling Oli Norwood 35 yards out and Sheffield United get a chance to float the ball into the box ...
72 min: Joshua King replaces Harry Wilson.
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70 min: Dean Henderson makes a quite brilliant two-handed save! The Sheffield United goalkeeper pushes Ryan Fraser’s vicious first-time shot to safety after Callum Wilson flicked a Harry Wilson cross on to the Bournemouth winger. Fraser and the Wilsons have inflicted plenty of damage.
69 min: Norwood releases Sharp but Simon Francis is again alert to it and promptly clears the danger. Francis and Ake have been superb at the back.
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68 min: O’Connell fouls Harry Wilson and Bournemouth earn a free-kick a few yards outside of their own 18-yard box. Down in the away dugout, some activity: Joshua King is stripped and ready for a big cameo off the bench.
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65 min: John Lundstram fluffs his lines inside the box! Not the midfielder’s finest moment, after meeting a marvellous cutback by Chris Basham. O’Connell fizzes a deep cross towards the overlapping centre-back Basham, who effortlessly keeps the ball in play before turning his marker. Then comes the cross, but the substitute Lundstram cannot apply the finish.
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63 min: George Baldock fouls Ryan Fraser and Bournemouth earn some respite after McBurnie twisted Francis inside-out. McBurnie does brilliantly but eventually runs out of steam, unable to pick out Billy Sharp. Sheffield United are upping the ante.
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61 min: Lundstram replaces Sander Berge.
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60 min: Nathan Ake goes close! Simon Francis does well to keep a Bournemouth attack alive and his centre-back partner coolly collects his header in the box, before trying to hook it goalwards. It darts a yard or two wide.
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59 min: Bournemouth win a corner via Fraser. Meanwhile Sheffield United are getting John Lundstram stripped and ready.
58 min: Adam Smith jinks inside John Fleck but the freedom goes to his head as he blasts way over the frame of Henderson’s goal. Bournemouth are at least trying to give Sheffield United something to think about.
57 min: Billing charges down Dean Henderson but the Sheffield United goalkeeper thumps another ball upfield. He can kick, and then some.
55 min: Bournemouth have been blunted by Sheffield United’s resurgence. Eddie Howe is deep in discussion with assistant Jason Tindall. How victory this afternoon would aid their fight for Premier League survival.
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52 min: A bit of a flare-up between Chris Wilder and, er, Andrew Surman down on the touchline ... Egan inadvertently catches Dan Gosling on the follow through of a high tackle. Wilder rages in his technical area, protesting that it was nothing to write home about and Surman duly shoves the Sheffield United manager. A little melee breaks out on the touchline, with Jon Moss awarding Wilder and Surman a yellow card. Tensions simmer and it was an entertaining flashpoint, but nothing more.
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50 min: Sheffield United have started this half with far greater intent. They are patiently probing, attacking the Kop stand. Surman cuts out a pass to prevent McBurnie picking up the loose ball. But Baldock upends Fraser and Bournemouth earn a chance to take stock. They are yet to get going in this second period.
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47 min: Ramsdale saves from Sharp! Henderson leathers the ball 70-odd yards downfield, McBurnie flicks it on and Sharp forces the Bournemouth goalkeeper – once of Sheffield United – to save with his legs. Sander Berge heads wide from the resulting corner. A much better start by Chris Wilder’s side this half, if nothing else.
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46 min: Bournemouth get us back under way at Bramall Lane.
Essential half-time Billy Sharp reading:
How about this for a half-time stat? Each of Billy Sharp’s last 34 league goals have been scored from inside the box, in a run dating back to October 2017. Both of his league goals this season have come against Bournemouth. Of course.
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Elsewhere, Filip Krovinovic has fired a faltering West Brom into the lead at Millwall with an hour played at the New Den:
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Some (light) half-time reading:
Half-time: Sheffield United 1-1 Bournemouth
Billy Sharp’s second goal of the season cancels out Callum Wilson’s opener to send Sheffield United in level at the break. Sharp’s last league goal this season? At Bournemouth on the opening day. Sharp, as he always is, was in the right place at the right time to convert from close range after Chris Wilder’s side bombarded Bournemouth’s box approaching the interval. For much of the first half the visitors played like the team pushing for Europe, with Sheffield United off-colour. But then Wilder’s side roused and piled on the pressure. A brilliant game.
GOAL! Sheffield United 1-1 Bournemouth (Sharp, 45+2)
Billy Sharp levels at Bramall Lane. Enda Stevens recycles the ball after Ramsdale punches a corner half clear and drives a cross into the six-yard box. It pinballs off defender John Egan and then inevitably to Sharp, the skipper who makes no mistake.
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45 min: We are into the first of three added minutes.
44 min: Norwood’s deflected strike bounces awkwardly wide of the Bournemouth goal, which is increasingly under siege. A flurry of late chances for Sheffield United. Ake gets in the way of Norwood’s cross and Aaron Ramsdale can only look on as it drops wide of the goalkeeper’s left post. From the resulting corner, Ramsdale saves superbly from a McBurnie header. And then Ake clears another low cross from the left. Backs to the wall stuff for Bournemouth.
42 min: Another exhilarating break by Bournemouth, with Fraser again at the heart of things. Gosling does well to help possession on in the midfield, releasing Callum Wilson, who plays it wide to Fraser. Harry Wilson is lurking unmarked to his right but Fraser pours forward down the left, delaying the cross and, when it eventually drops in the box, Dean Henderson gobbles it up.
40 min: Without wanting to put the kibosh on him, Simon Francis has been brilliant at the back for Bournemouth, leading by example. A real rock in defence.
39 min: Enda Stevens is booked for a full-blooded challenge on Harry Wilson, cleaning out the Bournemouth player in his pursuit for the ball. He wins the ball, but most definitely catches the Wales winger. A bit of a reducer, as they say.
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38 min: ... Norwood takes, but it cannons into the Bournemouth wall.
36 min: A bit of desperate defending by Bournemouth and the visitors eventually scramble the ball clear. Simon Francis does brilliantly to prevent a dangerous cross from the right by Oli Norwood dropping inside the six-yard box. Harry Wilson and Callum Wilson then make a mess of clearing it before Surman wallops it clear. But Sheffield United keep coming, and earn a free-kick 20 yards out ...
34 min: Ramsdale takes the sting out of another Sheffield United attack after Surman’s error gifts Oli McBurnie a whiff of goal. Nathan Ake makes life difficult for McBurnie, who swivels to get a shot away. In the end it loops up and Ramsdale calmly collects. Surman failed to trap a routine loose ball into the box and Bournemouth were momentarily plunged into trouble. But they get away with it.
30 min: Bournemouth concede another corner, but it comes to nothing with Philip Billing heading clear. Neat footwork by Sander Berge and an overlapping centre-back created a bit of panic and, despite Dan Gosling’s best efforts to keep the ball in play, Sheffield United yielded another corner. Bournemouth look very nifty on the counter, with Gosling sliding a beautiful pass in for Ryan Fraser, who had worked a nice chunk of space down the left flank. In the end Fraser overthinks things and the Blades get rid.
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28 min: ... Fraser whips in a fierce cross but Dean Henderson sees to it with a firm punch. Sheffield United duly clear their lines. Sharp squeezes the ball to Oli McBurnie, who gets to the byline and buys a corner out of Simon Francis. From the resulting ball in, Jack O’Connell heads over. Close!
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27 min: Diego Rico is bundled over by Sander Berge after marauding forward on the overlap to reach a cute Ryan Fraser pass. Bournemouth earn another free-kick way out on the left flank, with Rico and Fraser stood over it ...
25 min: Jack O’Connell coolly Cruyff turns away from Harry Wilson with the Bournemouth winger breathing down his neck.
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24 min: Bramall Lane is now bathed in sunshine. Funny old game.
21 min: Ramsdale wellies a long ball downfield in search of Callum Wilson, who picks up the ball near a few yards away from the corner flag and smacks a low ball across goal. It zips across the turf but no player in a Bournemouth shirt is there to meet it. It was just waiting for someone to whack it on the edge of the box.
20 min: Chris Wilder has his hands in his pockets. He looks pretty frustrated with his side’s start here. Bournemouth, by contrast, will be feeling happy.
17 min: Ryan Fraser requires some attention after a clash with Sander Berge, but the Bournemouth winger looks to be OK. Fraser has been a menace in this opening period at Bramall Lane, seemingly back to his electric best.
15 min: A sublime cross by Enda Stevens almost ends with the ball in the back of the Bournemouth net – but Eddie Howe’s side survive. In the end the ball cannons against the side netting. Sheffield United suddenly come to life after an unusually flat start by Chris Wilder’s side at Bramall Lane.
14 min: Bournemouth almost double their advantage! Another brilliant raid down the left flank by Fraser, whose hanging cross evades the unmarked Callum Wilson and Philip Billing, though the latter will feel he should have made contact with it. And now Sheffield United spring forward on the counterattack.
GOAL! Sheffield United 0-1 Bournemouth (C Wilson, 13)
It had been coming. Surman seizes possession on the edge of the box after Sander Berge played a blind pass and Harry Wilson plays a lovely ball out wide to Ryan Fraser. Harry Wilson then gets it back in the box but Sheffield United block his seemingly goal-bound shot. Callum Wilson hoovers up the seconds and fires in. Brilliant interplay between Fraser and the Wilsons.
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11 min: ... Callum Wilson hooks wide! Simon Francis flicks on the free-kick at the front post and Wilson is the beneficiary at the back stick. Wilson got the better of Berge but could not divert his shot goalwards. He did not have an awful lot of room to manoeuvre – stabbing a shot at goal more than anything – but it dashes wide of Dean Henderson’s left post. Encouraging start by Bournemouth.
10 min: Basham fouls Gosling, and Bournemouth have a free-kick way out on the left flank ....
8 min: Philip Billing is guilty of getting sloppy, not playing to the whistle as the ball runs free. Bournemouth then do win it back but Billing’s pass out to Harry Wilson is not the best and it goes out for a Sheffield United throw-in. The Bournemouth assistant manager Jason Tindall makes it known he is not happy about something and Jon Moss rushes over to have a word.
7 min: Harry Wilson heads wide! Decent initiative from Ryan Fraser, who stands up a cross for Wilson, who dives low to meet the Scotland winger’s ball from the left. It bobbles wide, but Bournemouth found joy breaking against Sheffield United, with Callum Wilson also surging forward through the middle.
6 min: Bournemouth have had a healthy amount of possession, without doing an awful lot with it. It is seemingly a very heavy surface at Bramall Lane.
5 min: ... Bournemouth play it short, Rico whips a dangerous ball in from the left but the ball bounces off Nathan Ake’s shoulder, with the defender having got the better of Jack O’Connell. It was a neat training-ground move.
4 min: Bournemouth win a corner off Sander Berge.
2 min: Simon Francis, the Bournemouth captain, makes a brilliant block to deny John Fleck. It was a sleek move by Sheffield United, with Jack O’Connell picking out Oli McBurnie in the left channel. The striker cut the ball back for Fleck – his pass crawled along the turf to the midfielder – who shot goalwards. But then Francis put his body on the line and intervened. Francis is the only survivor from when these teams last met at Bramall Lane in 2012.
1 min: Harry Wilson nicks the ball from Billy Sharp, tries to race forward with it but loses his footing. It’s going to be one of those afternoons ...
Peeeeeeeeeeep!
We’re under way after a rousing rendition of Greasy Chip Butty.
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Here we go, then. The teams trudge on to the pitch ...
Chris Wilder has been talking pre-match, including how he takes new signings down to Bramall Lane rather than their modest training ground, an old working men’s club. It’s an endearing tale. “We always meet the players at the ground about 4 o’clock when the sun’s going down, the lights are on and then the players go, whereabouts is the training ground? And I go, ‘don’t worry about that.’” And here’s another nice little nugget: “We’ve got the best fridge in the Premier League as well so hopefully we’ll empty that on Sunday afternoon.” His longtime assistant, Alan Knill, adds: “We have a unique way of playing and it suits this club.”
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Some pre-match reading. This is a lovely piece by Simon Burnton:
More Storm Ciara talk? “Afternoon Ben,” emails Roger Kirkby. “The best live TV at the moment is a YouTube channel called Big Jet TV. They have a livestream from Heathrow showing the planes landing and many not landing, it’s exciting stuff.” That will hopefully change in approximately 22 minutes time ...
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Eddie Howe weighs in on Storm Ciara. “On gameday if the pitch is very wet, which it looks like it is, you have to adapt and you cannot play necessarily the same day you would if it was a perfect surface. The recent six points [after victories over Brighton and Aston Villa] have meant a lot, but now we are fully focused on today. We want to leave everything out on the pitch in order to get another win.”
Manchester City v West Ham has been postponed:
This conditions will ensure a challenging afternoon, especially for goalkeepers Dean Henderson and Aaron Ramsdale, arguably the most exciting English stoppers in the game. Both have worked their way up through the leagues, with a five-month stint on loan at AFC Wimbledon last season, following a sizeable clanger of a different kind, a defining period in Ramsdale’s career:
Team news news: Storm Ciara is in from the off at Bramall Lane, where it is absolutely bucketing it down. The Norway midfielder Sander Berge makes his home debut for an unchanged Sheffield United, with skipper Billy Sharp again leading the line and former Bournemouth striker Lys Mousset on the bench for Chris Wilder’s side. Eddie Howe makes one change from the team that ousted Aston Villa last time out, with Andrew Surman replacing the suspended Jefferson Lerma. And a big boost for Bournemouth is the return of Joshua King from a hamstring injury, with the forward on the bench alongside Jack Stacey.
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The teams!
Sheffield United (3-5-2): Henderson; Basham, Egan, O’Connell; Baldock, Berge, Norwood, Fleck, Stevens; McBurnie, Sharp
Subs: Verrips, Jagielka, Lundstram, Mousset, McGoldrick, Osborn, Retsos
Bournemouth (4-3-3): Ramsdale; A Smith, Francis, Ake, Rico; Gosling, Billing, Surman; H Wilson, C Wilson, Fraser
Subs: Boruc, Stacey, S Cook, L Cook, Stanislas, King, Solanke
Referee: Jon Moss
Preamble
It is eight years since Sheffield United last entertained Bournemouth at Bramall Lane, when the hosts finished up on the right end of an eight-goal thriller in League One. Harry Maguire lined up in defence and Ryan Flynn scored twice before Nick Blackman, who joined Maccabi Tel Aviv last summer, put the icing on the cake, stretching Bournemouth’s winless start to the season to five matches. But, a month later, Eddie Howe returned from Burnley, Bournemouth began part two of their extraordinary rise and the rest, as they say, is history.
Chris Wilder has had a similarly monstrous impact since taking over the reins at his boyhood club four years ago. With 13 league games to play this season, sixth-placed Sheffield United are firmly in the conversation when it comes to snatching fourth or fifth spot. After this, the Blades will jet off to Dubai but Europe remains a palpable possibility. The addition of £22m club-record signing Sander Berge only further whets the appetite for what is to come, even if Wilder is staying predictably grounded. “Forty [points] has always been a big number for a newly-promoted side,” said Wilder, whose team are four points shy of reaching that total.
Bournemouth are in a different place but the mood is rather more buoyant on the Dorset coast following successive league wins against fellow strugglers Aston Villa and Brighton. But, as Eddie Howe has stressed, the important thing for his team is to back up those performances. “I am very calm at this moment to say ‘great result, really pleasing’ but am cautious at the same time to not build it up too much and then go flat again,” he said after the latter. “We really want to kick on.”
Kick-off: 2pm (GMT)
