Millwall 0-1 Sheffield United: Brewster Claims All Three Points For Blades in Tight Game | OneFootball

In what was one of the messiest games of the season, Sheffield United came out on top in a 1-0 win against Millwall at the Den.

A late first half tap-in from Rhian Brewster proved to be the winning goal of the game, but the Blades had to rely on a lick of paint, twice, to ensure they kept a clean sheet.

Blades boss Chris Wilder made a couple of changes from last Sunday; Femi Seriki was not included in the matchday squad so Alfie Gilchrist took up the right-back role, whilst central defender Harry Souttar was welcomed back after his one-match ban. Tyrese Campbell was not part of the squad either, but United welcomed back Kieffer Moore to the bench as Rhian Brewster was named the starting striker.

Lineups

Millwall: Jensen, McNamara, Wallace, Tanganga, Azeez (Langstaff 64), Bryan, Watmore (Emakhu 77), Saville, De Norre, Esse, Ivanovic.

Unused: Roberts, Mitchell, Bradshaw, Wintle, Smith, Honeyman, Harding.

Blades: Cooper, Gilchrist, Souttar, Brewster (McCallum 66), Hamer (Shackleton 84), O’Hare, Rak-Sakyi (Moore 55), Burrows, Robinson, Souza (T. Davies 54), Peck.

Unused: A. Davies, Baptiste, Norrington-Davies, Brooks, Oné.

First Half

The first real effort of the night came when a corner kick eventually fell to Hamer to hit in the ninth minute, but his shot flew into the stands. A couple of moments later, the home side won a corner and it was whipped in dangerously only for Tanganga to power his header over the bar.

Sheffield United should’ve opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Burrows’ superb delivery from the left sailed to the far post where Gilchrist hooked the ball back into the middle of the six-yard box only for O’Hare to miskick it. The ball eventually made its way to Hamer who could only fire wide from an extremely tight angle at the left byline.

Despite knocking the ball around in the middle of the park, the Blades were struggling to move the Millwall team around, and it was the home side who were imposing themselves as Tanganga picked the ball up on the left, drove into the box and then smashed a low effort onto the outside of the post which also got a hand from Michael Cooper to help it on its way.

Millwall’s tails were up and they looked the likeliest to grab that opening goal, and they were agonisingly close to finding it when Saville’s shot flew towards the top right corner only for the post to save the Blades once more.

After weathering the storm, Sheffield United orchestrated a superb move through Jack Robinson. The defender drilled a perfect long ball over the top of the Millwall defence towards the right flank where Gustavo Hamer took it in his stride before cutting it across to Rhian Brewster who tapped home for his first goal of the season.

LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 11: Callum O’Hare of Sheffield United and Romain Esse of Millwall compete for the ball during the Sky Bet Championship match between Millwall FC and Sheffield United FC at The Den on December 11, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images)

Second Half

The Blades were forced into an early change in the second half as Vinicius Souza was replaced by Tom Davies, and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi was subbed off for Kieffer Moore which meant Rhian Brewster would move to the right.

And it was Brewster who could’ve doubled his and United’s tally in the 63rd minute when a Burrows shot would deflect out towards the far post, with Moore leaving it for Brewster but he could only drill his 14-yard shot over the bar.

Then, a real scruffy period of play occurred; Millwall played long ball after long ball, and the Blades kept clearing it back to them as both teams lacked any finesse in their play. And with the home side throwing men forward, Wilder made a defensive sub which saw Rhian Brewster depart for Sam McCallum, and then eventually Jamie Shackleton replaced Gustavo Hamer.

Despite a couple of late penalty scares, the Blades hung on to their three points, meaning they went back to top of the league.