Match report, by Richard Jolly
Full-time: Sheffield United 1-0 Wolves
John Egan scored with practically the last touch of the match to give United a precious victory and dent Wolves’ Champions League hopes. The Blades climb to seventh place, just a point behind Wolves in sixth. What a season they are having. Wolves have had a terrific one, too, but they were short of creativity today and short of options off the bench. That’s two defeats on the trot for Nuno’s team, who will be cheering on their close chums Aston Villa tomorrow against Manchester United.
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GOAL! Sheffield United 1-0 Wolves (Egan 90+3)
Egan jumps majestically over Jonny and Boly to meet an out-swinging corner from the right and bang a powerful header into the net! It’s his second goal in two matches and it’s going to put United a step closer to a first ever European odyssey!
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90+3 min: The ball pingpongs around the Wolves’ box. Zivkovic’s shot is blocked, then it comes to Osborn whose shot is pushed out for a corner.
90 min: Doherty blocks a cross by Stevenes with his arms. United have a freekick just to the left of the box. They’ve got plenty of tall guys in the area to aim at ... They take it short to Osborn, who tries to lash in a low cross towards the near post. It’s cleared for a corner.
86 min: Wolves are penning their hosts back but still not look like breaking through.
83 min: Jimenez makes a mess of the last pass when Doherty was pleading to be put through.
81 min: Saïss puts Basham’s cross behind for a corner. Norwood delivers but Wolves get it away, out for a throw-in on the far side.
79 min: Wolves substitution: Dendoncker on, Traoré off. That means a switch to 3-5-2 and a chance of attacking emphasis: until now Traoré had been practically Wolves’ only source of danger but United’s centrabacks were generally coping well with his crosses when they came; now Wolves will hope to have more men to attack through the middle. They’ll have to summon more class than they’ve shown from there so far though.
77 min: Zivkovic chips over a canny cross from the left. Baldock comes in on the blindside of Jonny to get to the ball first. But he doesn’t connect properly with his header, so he nods a bouncer wide from eight yards. What a chance!
73 min: Boly drags down Zivkovic to concede a freekick near the left-hand corner flag. Norwood botches the freekick, failing to beat Jimenez at the near post.
72 min: Amazing by Traoré! he demonstrates his speed by beating O’Connell to the ball despite starting from five yards behind him, and then shows his composure and skill by slowing down to float a delicate cross into the danger area. Egan does well to clear.
71 min: Sheffield United substitution: Zivkovic on, Sharp off.
Drinks break
68 min: It says lot about the shallowness of these teams’ squads that there has only been one substitution so far.
66 min: United continue to put on the pressure, but Wolves are coping with it pretty comfortably. Berge and Mousset are getting into some dangerous positions though, and Stevens is a constant threat down the left. He’s been having the better of his duel with Doherty so far.
63 min: Dinky work down the right by Baldock and Basham, whose pass eludes Berge by a fraction! If he had been able to collect that, the Norwegian would have had a clear shot from 10 yards. And when the move breaks down, Wolves seize the change to launch a counter. Traor´e goes speeding into the Blades’ half ... before he’s the victim of a desperate trip by Stevens. That’s as blatant a yellow card offence as you’ll ever see.
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60 min: Wolves have lost the initiative in this game. But they’ll be confident they can still hit United on the counter. Just once in the last half an hour could be enough to boost their Champions League charge ...
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58 min: A sweeping United move culminates with another excellent low cross from the left by Stevens. It flashes across the six-yard box but neither Mousset nor Sharp can get on the end of it!
56 min: Both these team look a little jaded. There’s no lack of effort but neither is as precise as usual.
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54 min: Basham goes down in the box after a neat United move involving Norwood, Sharp and Berge. The ref saw nothing awry with the challenge and there are no complaints from United. Good, because Saïss didn’t touch Basham.
53 min: Stevens finds Sharp with a wonderful first time pass from the left. Sharp turns around Coady and fires into the net ... but he was offside. Not even VAR is going to overturn that. Probably.
53 min: Moutinho’s delivery from the right is characteristically dangerous, but O’Connell stoops to head it away. It runs to Neves, who has a crack from over 20 yards. It misses by miles.
52 min: Freekick to Wolves in a useful crossing position after Egan blocks off Jimenez’s run.
50 min: Sheffield United substitution: Mousset on, McBurnie off. The Blades’ top scorer is on.
49 min: It’s a good spell by United, zipping the ball around in the Wolves half. Brge plays in Basham down the right, but the cross goes straight to Patricio at the near post.
48 min: Baldock crosses from near the corner flag. Coady is well positioned to clear.
46 min: No personnel changes during the break, but Lys Mousset is in serious discussion with Wider on the sidelines, suggesting he will be introduced soonish. They could sure do with him, as McBurnie and sharp have got no change out of the Wolves’ defence.
Half-time: Sheffield United 0-0 Wolves
There hasn’t been much to report in terms of goalmouth action but it hasn’t been too boring, as there has been plenty of committed play and bold intent. Wolves had the better of it but lacked precision when it mattered most. But, as already noted, they tend to be at the most dangerous in the second half. But the Blades have carried a latent threat too even if neither of their forwards has had a much of a look in. Stay tuned!
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45+3 min: Wolves end the half on the attack, but their efforts yield nothing as Moutinho wafts a shot wide from 20 yards after a pass by Doherty.
45+2 min: Norwood aims a corner to the back post this time. Doherty beats Berge to it to nod away.
45+1 min: Norwood’s corner is headed away powerfully at the near post by Jimenez, a striker with many strings to his bow.
45 min: A swift counter-attack by United. Stevens dangerous low cross from the left is cleared by Coady.
44 min: Neves drills a low shot from an acute angle on the right. Henderson is too alert to be beaten at his near post.
43 min: Coady finds Doherty with a superb long diagonal pass. Doherty ‘s cross is cleared at the near post.
41 min: A long kick from Henderson runs straight out of play at the other end, doing nothing to increase the entertainment factor.
40 min: Traoré goes back into his own box to help his team out. He wins the ball and then sets off on a charge upfield: three players converge on him before he even makes it to half way. And on of them fouls him.
38 min: Good work in midfield by Osborn, who finds Stevens on the left. The wingback slips a nice pass into the let-hand side of the box. Sharp peels away from Saïss to collect it near the byline, but his cross poses no threat.
36 min: Neves has a pot shot from from 25 yards. It swerves several yards over the bar.
35 min: Wolves are dominating possession now and trying to wear United down. But the home team are sticking to their task well at the moment.
32 min: Jimenez is a growing menace all over the United half. He drops deep to link with his teammates or to skip forward into the box by himself. He’s so much more than just a finisher. A brilliant striker.
31 min: Neves curls the freekick over the six-man wall towards ... and it clips the top of the bar on its way out of play!
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30 min: O’Connell booked for knocking over Jota after being wrongfooted by a shimmy from the winger. Wolves have a freekick a fiew of yards outside the United box, just to the left of the D.
29 min: Traoré, faced with three defenders, floats a delicate cross beyond the back post. Jota tries to loop a header back towards Jimenez in front of goal. But it’s easy pickings for Henderson.
28 min: A good tackle by Basham to dispossess Jota just as Wolves seemed to be working up a head of steam in the opposing half.
26 min: Wolves string lots of passes together, going from one side of the pitch to the other, but they can’t make inroads into United’s defence. This is tight, nearly to the point of dreariness.
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24 min: A punt from Henderson bounces it way into the Wolves area. Boly takes control before Sharp can take advantage.
Drinks break
20 min: Traoré hammers a low cross from the right into the six-yard box. It hits Basham , who turns and boots it to safety.
18 min: O’Connell bends over a nice cross from the left. McBurnie gets across Coady and flicks a header goalward from seven yards. It’s a good effort but straight at Patricio.
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17 min: A gorgeous slide rule pass by Berger to Baldock in the right-hand channel. Baldock pulls the ball back towards the penalty spot. Doherty scurries over to cut it out.
15 min: Egan wellies the ball behind for a corner as Jota tried to play a low cross to Jimenez. That all came from a rapid counter-attack started when United lost the ball cheaply in midfield. Wilder must have been fuming on the sideline, as that’s exactly what he warned against.
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14 min: Wolves release Traoré down the right. He skitters into the box and the looks up for his usual accomplice, Jimenez. he finds the Mexican with a cute pass. Jimenez takes it on his chest and tries to poke a shot towards goal from 10 yards, but Egan blocks.
12 min: Jonny gets into an advanced crossing position for the first time. But his cross fails to beat the first man.
10 min: Wolves have a tendency to start slowly and that’s the case again today. We’ve seen very little of Traoré, Jimenez or Jota. It’s in the second half that they usually do their most damage.
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8 min: Norwood spray a fine crossfield ball towards Baldock. Jonny strains to try to head it back to his keeper, but it goes behind for a corner. The in-swinger causes problems but Wolves eventually scramble it to safety.
7 min: Berge does well to beat Neves wide on the right but the misplaces his pass. Neither side has quite got into their groove yet, and it’s tight.
5 min: Stevens fligns a throw-in to Osborn and gets it back. Then he rides a tackle by Doherty and dashes into the box. But his low cross is cleared by Boly.
4 min: A rare loose pass from midfield by Norwood. Just as I was about to say that this match showcases two of the most underrated passers in the Premier Leaguer: Norwood and Coady.
3 min: Traoré is back on the pitch and seemingly OK.
2 min: A worry for Wolves as Traoré goes down clutching his shoulder after a collision with Stevens. He’s had trouble in the past with his shoulder. But he doesn’t look in too much pain so hopefully this isn’t anything serious.
1 min: Wolves get the game going.
Want an omen? The last time these clubs met in the top-flight at Bramall Lane was in the 1975-76 season, when Liverpool also won the league. Wolves won the match 4-1. But both Wolves and Sheffield United ended up relegated (along with Burnley) and, er, Liverpool’s closest challengers at the top were QPR. OK, that’s not an omen at all.
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Nuno responds to Wilder’s praise by bigging up the Blades. “We face a lot of challenges. I think the work of Chris is amazing. They are organised, aggressive, powerful.” Earlier this week, by the way, Wilder spoke of how much he admires Nuno, not just for his coaching skills but also his “ideal personality”, saying Nuno has the perfect blend of suaveness, calmness and passion.
Chris Wilder’s pre-match thoughts on Sky: “Looking at their lineup, they’ll want us to go forward and commit so obviously we’ll have to be really careful of their counter-attacks.” He then reels of the individual qualities of Wolves’ players before realising how he sounds and saying with a giggle: “listen to me ... I think we’re 2-0 down already!”
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How Enda Stevens copes with Adama Traoré will be a key factor in today’s game. But that’s not Stevens’ only challenge, of course. He also has to contend with Matt Doherty: his Republic of Ireland teammate got the better of him when the sides met at Molineux earlier in the season - not only did Doherty score Wolves’ goal, but he also perpetrated a most wicked nutmeg on his chum in the course of the game. I’d like to think that’s been mentioned a couple of times at Irish squad get-togethers. Vengeance is due! (By the way, have you noticed that the Republic of Ireland have one of the world’s best wingback pairings ... but seldom play with wingbacks? It’ll be interesting to see what their new manager, Stephen Kenny, does with them).
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Want to know how Sheffield United’s record signing is going to play today? Well, below you can find Sander Berge explaining how he sees his role, which Chris Wilder has made much more attacking than at his previous clubs. It’s also worth looking out for the 6ft5in Norwegian from setpieces: he mentioned (and this isn’t included in the article) that he plans to make more of an impact from corners and freekicks in both boxes. Just like his buddy John Egan, who scored his first goal last weekend and can now be expected to go on a spree. Maybe.
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Teams
Chris Wilder makes two changes to his last lineup, with Billy Sharp replacing the injured David McGoldrick up front while Jack O’Connell makes a welcome return to their defence. Nuno, meanwhile, has reverted to his 4-3-3 formation, with Diogo Jota coming in on the left and Adama Traoré out make merry down the right. But Pedro Neto is injured, depriving Wolves of a precious option off the bench. But Daniel Podence is available again.
Sheffield United: Henderson; Basham, Egan, O’Connell; Baldock, Berge, Norwood, Osborn, Stevens; Sharp, McBurnie
Subs: Moore, Jagielka, K Freeman, Rodwell, Lundstram, Zivkovic, Mousset, Robinson
Wolves: Patricio; Boly, Coady, Saïss; Doherty, Neves, Moutinho; Traoré, Jimenez, Jota
Subs: Ruddy, Jordao, Vinagre, Kilmane, Dendoncker, Podence, Gibbs-White, Buur, Campana
Referee: M Atkinson
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Preamble
Hello. The last team these teams met at Bramall Lane, they were both in the Championship. Now Wolves are aiming to reach the Champions League and Sheffield United are hoping to qualify for European competition for the first time in their history. Wouldn’t it be super if both achieved those goals this season? Yes, it would, because right-thinking people like to see clever and skilful collective excellence rewarded. So come on the Wolves! Come on the Blades! But wait, that attitude doesn’t help us today because the sides will be hellbent on taking points off each other. Something’s got to give.
Wolves are sixth, three points behind Manchester United in fifth, which is the cut-off point for Champions League qualification unless Manchester City get their ban overturned. Sheffield United, meanwhile, are ninth, behind eighth-placed Spurs on goal difference. Eighth could secure a Europa League spot. It’s all to play for.
As for the form guide, Nuno Espirito Santo’s lads came out of lockdown like a dream, winning their first three matches without conceding a goal. But their verve was punctured last weekend by a home defeat to Arsenal. Chris Wilder’s charges, meanwhile, were hit hard by key injuries and struggled to regain their pre-lockdown form but they got back on track by taking four points in the last week from clashes with Spurs and Burnley. The teams drew 1-1 when they met at Molineux in December, but both crave three points today, that’s for sure. So come on the Wolves! Come on the Blades! Come on everybody!
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