And breathe…for now! Sheffield United finally have their first win of the season, beating Wolves 2-1, thanks to an Oli Norwood penalty in the final seconds of the game which was awarded by referee Rob Jones and upheld by VAR.
With this victory the Blades are only two points from safety and they face an out of form Brighton next Sunday at the American Express stadium.
Player grades
Wes Foderingham: 5
Probably one of the quieter matches Foderingham has had this season. He took his opportunities to come and collect crosses to ease pressure off his defence. However, his kicking was awful. Perhaps down to the weather conditions, but his kicking generated unnecessary stress on the defence.
Jayden Bogle: 7
Stuck to his task against a bunch of excellent speedy ball carriers. With the Blades moving back to five man defence it allowed Bogle to pick up good positions in the final third, and he looked a threat in the second half.
George Baldock: 8
Typical Baldock performance. Pure passion, determination and the right kind of aggression. And that determination was what won the penalty late on after he was taken out by Fábio Silva.
Auston Trusty: 8
Brilliant reading of the game to deal with the skill and fluidity of Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha. He started in the middle of a back three before swapping with Robinson to go to the left to combat Wolves’ pace down their right. It paid off.
Jack Robinson: 8
Solid as a rock. With Robinson you know he lacks pace, but he makes up for that in his anticipation and tackling technique. Top class again.
Luke Thomas: 6
First half he was caught out on two or three occasions. It appeared as though Wolves identified him as the weak link, therefore targeted him early on. But he rolled up his socks and improved in the second half.
Vinícius Souza: 7
Very busy in duels with 17 attempted [SofaScore] and registering five tackles. His power is a big plus in the midfield, however it’s noticeable he lacks pace to breakaway.
Oli Norwood: 6
Quite frustrating at times when he looks to play balls in the channels when it’s an opportunity to keep the ball for a period. Evident in his poor passing accuracy (66% – FBref). Also poor at set pieces again.
Gustavo Hamer: 7
Not his best performance but definitely not his worst. That being said, he worked extremely hard covering plenty of ground off the ball. Hamer will always give you 110% effort.
Rhian Brewster: 5
The first half was mainly poor by United. Brewster came off with a knee injury just before halftime. James McAtee came on for him and changed the complexion of the match in the second half.
Cameron Archer: 7
Struggled in the first half, but came to life in the second half. Didn’t create any chances at all for him really, so instead he took it on himself to provide a threat from distance. The first shot wasn’t far away at all. The second effort was sublime.
Subs
McAtee 8 (Brewster, 45)
Osborn N/A (Hamer 90)
