And that’s your lot. All that’s left is to point you in the direction of our man Richard Jolly’s match report. Nighty night!
A disappointed Chris Wilder speaks. “We can’t defend like that against quality players. We have to defend properly. We haven’t gone with runners, we’ve not blocked. It’s a game we could have won, but shouldn’t have got beat in. And that’s the harsh reality of Championship football. We have to learn pretty quickly that if it is a tight game, we must get something from it. It’s disappointing.”
That man Potter speaks. “I thought we did really well. It was a tough game for us. We limited them in the first half, and we weren’t as good as we wanted to be ourselves, but to come here and quieten the crowd, and make it a flat game was good for us. In the second half we showed quality and character. I’m proud of the lads and pleased for our supporters. You can’t do anything with 11 players, you need a substitute to make an impact. It’s testament to the group we have, that players want to come on and help the team. Any win in football is hard. It’s nice for the supporters to go home happy.”
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Another 45 games to go, and you’ll be unlucky if you see a worse half of football this season than the opening period of this match. But the second half delivered, with both teams contributing to the entertainment. Sheffield United were solid for the most part, and scored a well-worked goal through George Baldock. But while Swansea took an awfully long time to get going, they had the two most potent attackers on show, in Barrie McKay and the substitute Jefferson Montero. That pair would trouble any team in this division, and they ended up causing United all sorts of bother, turning the match around with their skilful dribbles. Yan Dhanda’s debut goal, scored less than 30 seconds after he came on, was the cherry on the cake of a good first day at the office for Graham Potter.
FULL TIME: Sheffield United 1-2 Swansea City
But Swansea hold on, and it’s a dream debut for Graham Potter!
90 min +3: Sharp races down the right and hooks into the centre. Van der Hoorn clears. Duffy tries from the other flank. Fernandez clears. Montero is sent scampering into space down the left, on the counter. He looks for McKay in the centre, which allows Henderson to claim and launch one Hail Mary attack.
90 min +2: Sharp tries to control a cross from Stevens on the right. It clanks out for a goal kick. He explodes in anger, demanding a corner that isn’t going to come. “Just catching up. Dundee United circa 2013? Sob!!! I’m like Andy Murray in Washington here.” He’s left it late. But I knew I’d smoke out Simon McMahon with that line.
90 min: There will be four added minutes.
89 min: The corner isn’t anything to write home about. Bramall Lane groans as one. Barring the travelling section belting out their Hymns and Arias, of course.
88 min: Baldock curls a cross in from the right. The ball clanks into an unsighted Roberts, and nearly flies into the top right! Nordfeldt paws it away for a corner.
87 min: United respond to that blow by replacing Basham with Duffy.
GOAL! Sheffield United 1-2 Swansea City (Dhanda 86)
Montero tears down the left again, reaches the byline, and finds McKay with another looping cross. McKay brings the ball down and cuts inside to shoot. He’d score, but he’s brought down clumsily by O’Connell. It would be a penalty, but the ball breaks to Dhanda, who has been on the pitch a matter of seconds. And he slams it into the net!
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85 min: Dhanda replaces Fulton. And this is some substitution, because ...
83 min: McKay has been Swansea’s bright spark up front all right. Now he rattles the crossbar! Montero makes good down the left and crosses deep. McKay chests down, cuts across the ball, and sends a curler towards the top left. Henderson is beaten, but the woodwork saves the day for Sheffield United!
82 min: Woodburn drifts in from the left, and lifts long, looking for Sharp. The ball bounces through to Nordfeldt, and rears up while doing so; the Swansea keeper does very well to claim the ball on his line.
80 min: As Baldock punishes himself by punching his own hand, Lundstram is replaced by Sharp.
79 min: Montero dribbles down the left in the baroque style. Baldock gets in the way, and tries to usher the ball out for a goal kick. But Montero battles his way round the defender, and he’s making his way along the byline! He lifts a cross towards McBurnie, who tries to gently help the ball into the bottom right with a deft header. Henderson’s beaten, but the ball agonisingly drifts wide of the right-hand post.
77 min: United have obviously decided to twist. A corner down the left, which leads to nothing. But they’re on the front foot again, having momentarily had the wind taken out of their sails by McBurnie’s equaliser.
76 min: Evans, deep on the right, magic-wands a delicious low cross towards Clarke, coming in towards the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. But the striker can’t quite connect.
75 min: Both teams take turns to stroke it around slowly at the back. Time for a breather, and to decide whether to stick or twist.
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73 min: Ben Woodburn comes on to make his debut for Sheffield United. McGoldrick makes way.
GOAL! Sheffield United 1-1 Swansea City (McBurnie 71)
McKay has been Swansea’s most potent attacker. He drives down the inside right, and one-twos with McBurnie. Suddenly he’s in the area, on the penalty spot, clean through! Clarke tries to toe the ball away from behind, but only succeeds in sending it towards the bottom right. Henderson saves brilliantly, but can only parry the ball to McBurnie, who slams home from close range and disappears in a glorious bundle of fans behind the goal.
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69 min: The resulting corner comes to nought.
68 min: He has now! McKay jinks in from the right and chips towards Fulton, who tries to eyebrow the ball over Henderson and into the top left. It’s going in, but Henderson arcs his back and tips over the crossbar. What a save!
66 min: Swansea ping it around, 30 yards from the United goal. But the hosts are holding their shape well. There’s nothing doing for them in the middle. The young keeper Henderson, who looked nervous in the early exchanges of his debut, hasn’t been tested at all.
64 min: It’s kind of absurd to say, given how the first 50-odd minutes of this match had gone. But that had been coming! Swansea respond by hooking Asoro and sending on Montero.
GOAL! Sheffield United 1-0 Swansea City (Baldock 62)
This is a lovely goal! Fleck slips a pass down the inside-left channel to Stevens, who pulls one back from the byline. To the left of the D, Baldock meets the ball first time, sidefooting gloriously into the bottom left!
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60 min: Suddenly we’ve got a game! Carroll glides in from the right and unleashes a rising shot that isn’t far away from the top left at all! Somewhere, in a parallel universe, four goals have been scored in the last seven minutes.
59 min: From a Swansea throw, Lundstram intercepts, one-twos with McGoldrick, then shanks a dreadful effort wide right with the goal begging.
58 min: Swansea ping it around nicely in the Martinez-Rodgers style. But then Celina plays a loose one to McGoldrick, who races towards the Swansea box. McGoldrick opens his body and tries to fashion a low curler into the bottom left. He beats Nordfeldt, but he’s also set the ball too far wide, and it flies past the post.
56 min: Swansea pin United back for a couple of minutes. Some pretty passes back and forth, this way and that across the front of the United box. But there’s no way to prise open some space in the middle. The hosts hold firm.
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54 min: Baldock wedges a pass down the inside-left channel for Clarke, who enters the box and tries to dribble inside, where he hopes to shoot. But the ball doesn’t stick to his boot.
53 min: United stroke it around the back awhile. Then Evans gives it away in the midfield. McKay whizzes down the left. He’s in on goal, but opts to roll a pass across for Asoro, who takes a touch and sees his eventual shot blocked at source by O’Connell.
50 min: Clarke and van der Hoorn collide in the midfield, as the pair challenge for a high ball. There’s some rolling about. Other than that, nothing is happening.
48 min: We begin again where we left off. It’s very, very scrappy. Celina bursts down the left but clips the heel of Egan, who falls on his face while conceding a corner. But Swansea won’t get the set piece because United get the foul.
46 min: McKay tears down the left and zips past a static Egan. He enters the box but O’Connell comes over at pace. McKay panics, and toe-pokes the ball out of play for a goal kick. A promising run, though.
And we’re off again! No changes. United get the ball rolling for the second half.
Half-time reading: Today’s Football League round-up, for your pleasure.
HALF TIME: Sheffield United 0-0 Swansea City
It’s going to be a long season if they keep this up.
45 min: From a throw-in on the left, needlessly conceded by Henderson, Swansea fashion a half-chance. The ball’s sent in from the wing by Olsson. Asoro brings it down and pokes goalwards; Egan clears off the line. But Asoro had handled, so it matters not.
44 min: McKay and Olsson combine nicely down the left. The latter looks for McBurnie in the middle. Nope. McBurnie has been a virtual spectator.
42 min: McGoldrick drops deep and takes a run at Swansea. His rising shot from distance is deflected out for a corner; there’s a suggestion that had it not been, Nordfeldt could have been in a world of trouble, his feet planted. United unlucky. The resulting corner is a waste of time.
41 min: Evans blooters a shot high into the stand behind the Swansea goal. Then up the other end, Roberts crosses from the right, sending the ball into the stand on the left. Dearie me.
39 min: Basham drives into the Swansea box down the right. He opts to fall into Fernandez’s leg, hoping for a penalty kick. He should be booked for a dive, but isn’t. Olsson is livid.
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37 min: Now Asoro is clattered by O’Connell. This has descended into a scrappy nonsense.
36 min: After a wash down with the magic sponge, Fernandez is good to go again.
34 min: Evans tries to sidefoot one into the bottom right from the edge of a crowded Swansea box. It’s predictably blocked. Fernandez shapes to make off with the loose ball, and is accidentally kicked in the mush by Stevens. The boot on the other foot all right.
33 min: Stevens takes an accidental elbow across the nose from Asoro. He’s down and not particularly happy. Then he gets up. Still not chuffed. The referee waves play on.
31 min: United win a corner down the right. Nothing comes of it. Bramall Lane is a quiet place right now.
29 min: This match has failed to deliver so far. In the stands watching it unfold: former Blade and England star Harry Maguire, and Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia. We just need a minor member of the royal family and a category-C British movie star, and this will be just like Wimbledon.
27 min: United waste it, Fleck curling to the far post, where O’Connell has gone way too soon and is flagged offside. The free kick was overhit anyway.
26 min: Olsson and Carroll come together down the United right. The decision’s a free kick to United; Swansea were claiming one the other way. This is in a dangerous position.
24 min: United are beginning to worry Swansea with a series of crosses into the box. Fleck nearly finds McGoldrick. Van der Hoorn clears. Then Swansea counter, McKay confusing Basham down the left with a cute flick and dropped shoulder. He slips the ball to the right for Asoro, who reaches the byline and sashays along it with the grace of Philippe Petit, but his pullback into the centre doesn’t find a team-mate.
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22 min: Olsson takes an absolute age over a throw-in. He eventually flings it to Carroll, who immediately shanks it out of play. What a fiasco.
20 min: McGoldrick fizzes a low ball in from the right. Fernandez is forced to slide it out for a corner on the left. United work it back up the flank, Evans finally curling one to the far post. It’s just too high for O’Connell and Egan. But Swansea hearts would have been in mouths for a second there.
19 min: Swansea ping it around in the pretty fashion. For a minute, it’s like 2011 all over again. Possession is eventually lost, nothing having been achieved, but then that’s not really the point: it’s a very early sign that Graham Potter is trying to reinstate the club’s trademark pass-and-move style.
17 min: It’s all a bit frenetic. No discernible pattern to this game.
15 min: Olsson tries to release McKay down the left from deep. He overhits the pass by a couple of inches. A shame for Swansea, because McKay would have sprung the United trap.
13 min: Stevens, Baldock and Fleck triangulate nicely down the left, but after a few crisp passes threaten to bamboozle Swansea, a heavy one scuppers the move.
11 min: Fleck scampers into space on the left, then very nearly finds McGoldrick in the middle. This is a nice open match, with both teams showing willing to attack.
9 min: O’Connell bombs down the left and Fosbury flops over the static Roberts. He wants a free kick - the crowd certainly do - but the referee simply isn’t interested.
7 min: Celina sends the free kick straight down Henderson’s throat. But Swansea soon get another free kick as they come again through Asoro, brought down by Stevens on the right. Olsson looks for the top right but Henderson claims that one too. Some early nerves from the keeper though, in so much as he slipped while trying to quickly throw upfield after claiming the first free kick, then fumbled the second before gathering. Still, no great mistakes, and it’s onwards and upwards.
5 min: Asoro picks up a loose ball in the midfield and drives upfield. He slips the ball to McKay on his left. McKay turns neatly and is dragged down by Basham. A free kick in a dangerous position, just outside the United box.
3 min: There’s early joy for United down this left flank. O’Connell drives down the wing and fires low into the centre. Nordfeldt gathers at the near post, with Fleck lurking.
2 min: It’s a bright start by United, who pin Swansea back in their final third. Fleck fizzes a low cross into the box from the left, but the ball refuses to break to McGoldrick.
And we’re off! Dundee United Swansea City get the ball rolling to a huge start-of-the-season roar. Followed by a chorus of The Greasy Chip Butty Song. A fine atmosphere in this wonderful old-school ground.
The teams are out! Sheffield United are in their famous old red and white stripes. Swansea City are dressed like Dundee United circa 2013. We’ll be off very soon!
Then Graham Potter speaks! “I want this challenge, and I’m looking forward to it. We’re at the start of a process, a few weeks of pre-season doesn’t count for much. The real learning and understanding starts today. But we’re happy with the players we’ve brought in. We will find out a lot today and in the coming weeks.”
Some pre-match confidence from Chris Wilder: “We looked at our squad, statistically and with our own eyes, to see what we needed to do to make us better. And we think we’ve done that.”
Some pre-match reading: Our man Stuart James met up with new Swans boss Graham Potter. Here’s the interview!
Chris Wilder scribbles down three new names on the Sheffield United teamsheet: goalkeeper Dean Henderson, on loan from Manchester United; former Brentford centre-back John Egan; and striker David McGoldrick, once of Southampton, Nottingham Forest and Ipswich. On-loan Liverpool winger Ben Woodburn is named as a sub, but Kean Bryan, secured on a free from Manchester City, sits it out.
Graham Potter names three debutants as well, in his first competitive Swansea starting XI: 19-year-old Swedish striker Joel Asoro, signed from Sunderland; winger Barrie McKay, formerly of Rangers and Nottingham Forest; and Kosovan winger Bersant Celina, brought up by the Manchester City academy.
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The teams
Sheffield United: Henderson, Baldock, Stevens, Fleck, O’Connell, Basham, Lundstram, Evans, Clarke, Egan, McGoldrick.
Subs: Sharp, Woodburn, Leonard, Stearman, Duffy, Lafferty, Moore.
Swansea City: Nordfeldt, Roberts, Fernandez, van der Hoorn, Olsson, Fulton, Carroll, Asoro, Celina, McKay, McBurnie.
Subs: Mulder, Amat, Rodon, Grimes, Dyer, Dhanda, Montero.
Preamble
Swansea haven’t won at Sheffield United in the league since March 1939. This would be some time for them to register their first away win of 2018, wouldn’t it?
After a miserable Premier League campaign, the Swans are desperate for something to arrest their downward plunge. New manager Graham Potter might do the trick: having worked wonders at Östersunds in Sweden, he’s determined to revive progressive philosophies at a club that had lost its mojo after the joy of the Martinez-Sousa-Rodgers-Laudrup era.
Sheffield United will pose quite a test. Last season Chris Wilder’s side beat all three of the sides freshly cashiered from the Premier League at home, seeing off Middlesbrough 2-1, Sunderland 3-0 and Hull City 4-1. The Blades will also draw confidence from last season’s strong start, winning their opening match and topping the division by mid-November. Bramall Lane will accordingly be bouncing this evening. It’s on!
Kick off: 5.30pm BST.
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