Sheffield United 1-0 Sunderland: Returning Midfielder Fires The Blades On Top | OneFootball

Bramall Lane played host to one of the most exciting 1-0’s of the Championship season as 10-man Sheffield United saw off the challenge of 10-men Sunderland.

The winning goal came from the recently returning Tom Davies, and it was only fitting that the midfielder would score the winning goal in front of the Kop end, a perfect reward after such a long recovery period from injury. Davies’ 83rd minute strike was enough to fire them to the top of the league for the second time this week.

Chris Wilder made two changes on Friday evening; Alfie Gilchrist came back in for Femi Seriki, and Harrison Burrows took the place of Sam McCallum.

Lineups

Blades: Cooper, Gilchrist, Souttar, Hamer (McCallum 90), O’Hare (Seriki 45), Rak-Sakyi (T. Davies 77), Burrows (Norrington-Davies 87), Robinson, Souza, Campbell (Oné 77), Peck.

Unused: A. Davies, Shackleton, Marsh, Brooks.

Sunderland: Patterson, Neil, Ballard, Bellingham, Roberts (Mayenda 77), Rigg (Aouchiche 84), O’Nien, Isidor (Connolly 84), Mepham, Hume, Watson (Alese 77).

Unused: Moore, Rusyn, Aleksic, Hjelde, Johnson.

First Half

The Blades started the game off on the front foot on a chilly night under the Bramall Lane lights, but they were reduced to shots that were either blocked or completely wayward.

It was Sunderland who carved out the first real opportunity of the game from a Tom Watson free-kick. The youngster whipped a low ball into the penalty area which seemed to have deceived the United defenders, and luckily for them no Sunderland player was able to get on the loose ball.

As the clock ticked down, the away side were growing more and more confident, and it was through Watson and Patrick Roberts. The wide playmakers were causing all sorts of problems with their dribbling ability and creativity, and it was through Watson’s dribbling which gave Sunderland a penalty in the 29th minute, after Jack Robinson tripped him.

The captain had his goalkeeper to thank because Michael Cooper guessed correctly and strongly palmed Patrick Roberts’ low penalty out for a corner.

The first half action wasn’t done there. Gustavo Hamer slipped Tyrese Campbell through on goal, and the forward attempted to go around the last man, Chris Mepham, until he was wiped out on the edge of the box in the 40th minute. The referee deemed the foul to be worthy of a red card after a lengthy pause.

With the man advantage, the Blades began to pile on the pressure. However, moments before halftime, Harry Souttar, who was previously booked, saw a second yellow card after pulling his man back on the halfway line, evening the numbers once more.

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 29: Michael Cooper of Sheffield United is congratulated by teammates after he saves a penalty kick from Patrick Roberts of Sunderland during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United FC and Sunderland AFC at Bramall Lane on November 29, 2024 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Second Half

Chris Wilder brought Femi Seriki on to replace Callum O’Hare at halftime and the young attacking full-back showed his burst of pace and energy early on in the second interval.

Cutting onto his right foot down the left, Harrison Burrows hit a curling shot towards the back post, which took a deflection to divert it agonisingly wide of the mark.

A huge error from Vinicius Souza, in the 55th minute, was not profited on by Sunderland after he was dispossessed in his own penalty area; Izidor drilled his shot goalwards, but Cooper dealt with it easily.

Souza was involved in key moments again, this time at the right end of the pitch as far as the Blades are concerned. After some neat play down the right between Seriki, Souza and Rak-Sakyi, Souza decided to smash the ball towards goal just inside the right channel of the box, and his powerful shot was parried by the Sunderland goalkeeper.

Yet more good play down the right involving Seriki almost led to a goal as he skipped past his man inside the penalty area but could only fire it at the goalkeeper from an awkward angle.

As the game wore on, both sides committed bodies forward despite looking tired. And the Blades’ gamble paid off in the 83rd minute. Tom Davies turned super sub, finding his way in the box, he exquisitely received the ball in a tight area and managed to fire the ball beyond Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson.