Sheffield United suffered back-to-back defeats on their travels after Middlesbrough held onto a 1-0 win on Wednesday evening.
After some excellent last-ditch challenges by either team to keep the game goalless, Emmanuel Latte Lath came off the bench to nod Boro in front, literally, with ten minutes to go the forward powered a header into the bottom right corner after a delicate lofted ball from Finn Azaz.
Chris Wilder reverted back to 4-2-3-1, and he was forced into a change with the suspended Vinicius Souza which saw Sydie Peck come into midfield to partner Oliver Arblaster. Alfie Gilchrist and Sam McCallum took the places of Jamie Shackleton and Harrison Burrows, whilst Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Rhian Brewster returned to the starting eleven, and Gustavo Hamer dropping to the bench.
Lineups
Boro: Dieng, van den Berg, Hackney, McGree (Howson 88), Ayling, Morris, Azaz (Clarke 90), Conway (Latte Lath 77), Edmundson, Borges, Doak (Jones 88).
Unused: Brynn, Barlaser, Burgzorg, Dijksteel, Hamilton.
Blades: Cooper, Gilchrist (Brooks 87), McCallum (Norrington-Davies 61), Arblaster, Souttar, Brewster, Moore (Campbell 79), O’Hare (Hamer 61), Rak-Sakyi, Ahmedhodzic, Peck (Shackleton 61).
Unused: A. Davies, Burrows, Robinson, Seriki.
First half
Sheffield United started fast but to no avail, and they quickly had some work to do at the other end as Ahmedhodzic, Souttar and Gilchrist all made excellent blocks to stop goal-bound shots.
The Blades began to slice through the Boro team with ease and Callum O’Hare had the first meaningful action when he drifted to the left and whipped in a cross come shot which Dieng could only parry into the six-yard box for his defender to scramble clear.
From the resulting corner, the home team were caught sleeping as Peck played a short corner to Arblaster with nobody around him, and he played a return ball to Peck who then fizzed a teasing cross into the near post where Dieng, again, could only palm out to his defenders.
United thought they had taken the lead when Jesurun Rak-Sakyi chopped his way past his opposite number inside the box and then drove his shot towards the bottom far corner, but an excellent piece of defending from Luke Ayling denied him on the goal line.
It was end to end at this point and this time it was Boro’s turn to form a dangerous attack. Some intricate and quick tempo passing around the box eventually led to McGree having his shot saved by Cooper, and then he soon produced a double save to deny Doak and Conway’s efforts.
Second half
Middlesbrough grew stronger as the first half went on and they carried that momentum into the start of the second half.
The home side were dominating the game in the right areas of the pitch, but the Sheffield United defence were remaining resilient as a superb challenge from Gilchrist snuffed out a tap-in for Conway. Then, it was Souttar’s turn to put his body on the line, denying Hayden Hackney after Ben Doak’s brilliant run and delivery.
Wilder made a triple change by bringing on Norrington-Davies for McCallum, Shackleton for Peck, and Hamer for O’Hare. Hamer soon got booked for delaying the restart of a free-kick which now means he is suspended for the game against Stoke City.
The Blades struggled to create anything in the second half so Gilchrist resorted to a 30-yard powerdriver which stung the fingertips of Dieng.
As United’s subs struggled to make an impact, Boro’s sub didn’t. Emmanuel Latte Lath, who was only on the pitch for three minutes, peeled off the back of the defence and met Finn Azaz’s clipped ball with his head perfectly to give the home team the lead with ten minutes to go.
United attempted to get an equaliser but the best they could conjure up was a tame effort from Gustavo Hamer on the outside of his right boot from the edge of the box.
