Sheffield United 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Centre-back John Egan was the hero again on a rainy night at Bramall Lane as Sheffield United beat Wolves thanks to his 93rd-minute header.
These teams are two of the Premier League’s big success stories of 2020, and Egan’s second late goal in the last two games has lifted the Blades up to seventh, just a point behind Wolves. He scored a spectacular equaliser against Burnley on Sunday, but Wolves must have missed that as they gave him enough room to do the damage tonight.
Defeat to Arsenal last week put a break on Wolves’ charge towards the Champions League and this was a real blow to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.
Highlights of the game
Chris Wilder’s Blades are a compact side as they proved in the recent win over Spurs and draw with Burnley, and they managed to keep Wolves’ flair players quiet in the opening exchanges.
But the visitors are always dangerous and Adama Traore broke quickly down the right to put a ball in the direction of Raul Jimenez, but the Mexican took a heavy touch and George Baldock was on hand to clear.
Sheffield had the first effort on target when Jack O’Connell put in a great ball for Olie McBurnie, whose header was straight at Rui Patricio.
O’Connell has been a rock at the heart of the Blades’ defence, and he was soon in action at the other end tracking the run of Diogo Jota. He had to resort to pulling the Wolves man down, which led to a yellow card.
Ruben Neves has a penchant for the spectacular, and his dead-ball kick beat the wall and crashed against the crossbar. The Portuguese star is a real talent and a man to watch in the Premier League 2020 highlights package. If he’d been a metre further back with this effort, he would have scored.
Jota tested the Blades’ keeper, Dean Henderson, when he met a Traore cross with a firm header. Neves also tried his luck again from distance, but this time he wasn’t as close and the ball flew high and wide.
Wolves got themselves in a mess at the back when Willy Boly under-hit a back pass and Billy Sharp nipped in, but Patricio was alert to the danger and closed the Sheffield striker down.
Sharp had the ball in the net early in the second half, but the offside flag went up and VAR agreed. At the other end, Wolves broke quickly again, but Jota headed over from Jimenez’s cross.
As the conditions worsened in Sheffield and the rain lashed down, both teams struggled to find any fluency. But in a rare Sheffield attack, Baldock almost gave the Blades the lead, but he planted his header wide with the goal at his mercy.
And then, in the third minute of three added on for injuries, the Blades won a corner. Oliver Norwood swung it over and John Egan rose highest to score his second goal in four days.
Key statistics
The pre-match odds here at SBOBET had the Blades as outsiders at odds of 3.45, and while Wolves bossed the possession and had some good chances, they only mustered one shot on target to Sheffield’s three.
The last time these two sides met here at Bramall Lane was six years ago, and that was in the third tier of English football. It shows how far they have travelled in a short space of time, and particularly Sheffield United in their first season back in the top flight.
This was the first time Sheffield have won three consecutive home games in the Premier League since 1993 and looking at Wilder’s reaction to the goal…it was sweet.
What’s next?
Both Sheffield United and Wolves are chasing a European place and the games keep coming in a relentless push to the finish line.
Next up, the Blades are at home to Chelsea on Saturday. The Blues still have their Champions League destiny in their own hands after a hard-fought 2-3 win at Crystal Palace on Tuesday night. If they can win the remainder of their games they will stay in the top four.
Wilder’s team was a favourite to get relegated according to the early-season Premier League 2020 betting odds so to be in the hunt for Europa League football at this late stage is some achievement.
Meanwhile, Wolves are at home to Everton on Sunday and they really need a win to keep their fading Champions League hopes alive.
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