Sheffield United cruised to a 2-0 victory on the opening night of the Championship season at Preston North End.
Oli Arblaster’s deflected effort in the first half spun past the Preston goalkeeper into the far corner to bring the EFL season’s first goal. Gustavo Hamer doubled United’s lead in the second half when he lobbed the ball over the home keeper from 25 yards out.
Alfie Gilchrist was handed his Blades debut slotting in at right-back. Whilst the other latest signing Harry Souttar was named on the bench. Harrison Burrows, Callum O’Hare and Kieffer Moore were also handed competitive debuts.
Lineups
Preston: Woodman, Whiteman, Whatmough, Lindsay, Keane (Osmajic 65), Riis, Brady (Best 87), Hughes, Greenwood (Kesler-Hayden 65) Thordarson (Frokjaer 72), Potts.
Unused: Cornell, Storey, Ledson, Holmes, Mawene.
Blades: Davies, Gilchrist (Seriki 72), Arblaster, Hamer (Slimane 72), Moore, O’Hare (Peck 90), Burrows, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Souza, Brooks (Brewster 79).
Unused: Grbic, Trusty, Souttar, Coulibaly, Marsh.
First half
Preston North End looked to try and exploit Sheffield United’s defensive frailties from last season by playing very direct. However, they were unable to trouble the Blades and in fact United were mopping up the home side’s attacks with ease and cushioning the ball into midfield and very quickly they began to control the game.
With some quick incisive passing the visitors got their lead 12 minutes into the match. A direct pass into the feet of Moore, the Welshman quickly turned the ball around the corner to Brooks on the right who body feinted to create an angle to pass to Oli Arblaster, and from the edge of the box Arblaster’s left-footed effort took a huge deflection and it found his way into the far left corner of the goal.
Chris Wilder’s men could’ve very swiftly added a second as Hamer and O’Hare linked up well in transition. As O’Hare advanced on goal he thought about slipping it to left for Hamer but he ignored his teammate and instead overran the ball.
The hosts did pose a threat towards the end of the half when Souza was called upon to slide tackle Thordarson, and then Robinson was perfectly placed to block a goalbound shot from Potts.
United could’ve had a freekick on the edge of the box when Moore was clotheslined in his efforts to reach a through ball before half-time but the referee waved play on.
Second half
Preston started the second half in a much more aggressive manner, getting the ball down the channels and putting crosses into the box, but most of the deliveries lacked quality.
And the Blades would soon capitalise on a dreadful error by the Lilywhites’ goalkeeper. In the 55th minute, Woodman looked to play the ball out from the back but his poor distribution was cut out by Gustavo Hamer who proceeded to lob the Preston man from 25 yards out.
With around 30 minutes to go Sheffield United really should’ve added a third goal when they broke with numbers. The counter-attack eventually made its way out to the right where Brooks skillfully glided his way past three Preston players before cutting it back to the byline, the ball found Moore inside the six yard box but he was unable to divert the ball goalwards.
The Blades saw the game out in professional fashion as they move onto one point. Their first home game of the season is against QPR next Saturday but before that they host League One outfit Wrexham in the Carabao Cup.
