HULL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Anel Ahmedhodzic of Sheffield United reacts with teammate Vinicius Souza following the Sky Bet Championship match between Hull City AFC and Sheffield United FC at MKM Stadium on September 13, 2024 in Hull, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Hull City 0-2 Sheffield United: Blades record back-to-back clean sheet victories

Sheffield United recorded another 2-0 victory on their travels, but they were tested by Hull City on Friday evening.

Gustavo Hamer broke the deadlock in the first half with a powerful low driven effort into the bottom left corner from a tight angle on the right of the box. Substitute Sam McCallum doubled United’s lead just after the hour mark with an excellent improvised finish following Andre Brooks’ marvellous piece of skill and vision to claim the assist.

Despite Chris Wilder claiming the Blades had a few players that were doubtful for the trip to East Yorkshire, he named an unchanged eleven from the side that beat Watford before the international break.

Lineups

Hull: Pandur, Coyle, Giles (Drameh 45), Jones, McLoughlin, Mehlem, Bedia, Omur, Burns (Slater 68), Belloumi (Palmer 68), Kamara (Millar 45)

Unused: Racioppi, Simons, Burstow, Jacob, Zambrano.

Blades: Cooper, Gilchrist (Seriki 83), Arblaster, Souttar, Hamer (McCallum 61), Moore (Shackleton 88), O’Hare (Brewster 61), Rak-Sakyi (Brooks 61), Burrows, Ahmedhodzic, Souza.

Unused: A. Davies, Campbell, Norrington-Davies, Peck.

First half

Sheffield United began the game on the front foot pressing Hull City deep in their own half, looking to pinch the ball as they attempted to play out from the back. The first chance of the game fell to Jesurun Rak-Sakyi as he cut inside on his left foot on the edge of the area but sliced his shot wide of the goal.

A few moments later, the Blades managed to steal the ball from Hull’s short corner and O’Hare drove the ball 40 yards up the pitch before releasing Gustavo Hamer down the right side of the penalty area, and the midfielder notched his third goal of the season with a powerful strike into the bottom left corner.

The away side should have made it 2-0 when Gilchrist’s excellent long ball fell to Moore who raced in behind the Hull defence. The United striker cut inside on his right foot but his indecisiveness allowed the defender to close the space so he flicked it down the outside to O’Hare who’s cross sailed well over Moore.

It took until around 30 minutes before Hull really tested Cooper in the Blades goal. A 30 yard dipping free-kick from Omur saw United’s number one tip it over the bar at the last second.

HULL, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 13: Sam McCallum of Sheffield United celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Hull City AFC and Sheffield United FC at MKM Stadium on September 13, 2024 in Hull, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Second half

The home side began the second half well, upping their tempo in their passing, but the Blades had the first real meaningful chance in the second interval. A Hamer corner saw the ball pinball around in the box before settling at the feet of Vinicius Souza who instinctively swung his left boot at it but the keeper palmed it away.

Cooper had to be alert once more to a long distance shot as Belloumi’s left-footed whipping cross come shot was looping towards the underside of the bar until a strong hand batted it out for a corner.

After freshening the side to get more pace and energy into the team at about the hour mark, Rhian Brewster, Andre Brooks and Sam McCallum were all involved in United’s second goal. From the home side’s own corner, the Blades once again broke when Brewster’s volleyed pass was picked up by Moore down the left wing. Moore fed a through pass into Brooks inside the left half space of the box, and the sub skillfully found his fellow sub Sam McCallum with a cute flick, and McCallum’s finish found the bottom right corner.

Hull chucked bodies forward in hope of a lifeline and they almost got it when a floated Coyle cross was met by Mehlen, who’s header crashed the underside of the bar and the ball bounced down in the six yard box and was cleared.

The Blades hung onto their third clean sheet of the campaign, and another three points in the bag means United jump up to third in the league as of Friday night.