Sheffield United left it late, nevertheless three points is all the same as the Blades came from behind to deal Bristol City a 2-1 loss at Ashton Gate.
A penalty from Anis Mehmeti gave the home side the lead in the 75th minute. But, an 86th minute equaliser from Ryan Oné, for his first senior goal for the club, gave the Blades belief of a comeback win. United’s confidence grew even further when Rob Dickie was sent off for a last-man foul on Callum O’Hare in the 95th minute. And then the decisive moment came when Harrison Burrows made it two goals in the last two games with a 98th minute laser-guided missile in front of the away end.
Chris Wilder made a few tweaks to his starting eleven; Anel Ahmedhodzic made his way back into the back line to replace Jack Robinson. Sydie Peck got a start ahead of Oliver Arblaster. Andre Brooks took over from Jesurun Rak-Sakyi down the right, with Gustavo Hamer replacing Rhian Brewster, and Tyrese Campbell slotting in for Kieffer Moore.
Lineups
Bristol City: O’Leary, Pring (Roberts 69), Naismith (Dickie 80), Bird, Hirakawa, Knight, Vyner, Sykes (Mehmeti 6), Wells (Armstrong 45), McGuane, Earthy (Morrison 80).
Unused: Bajic, Atkinson, Mayulu, Cornick.
Blades: Cooper, Gilchrist (Seriki 77), Souttar, Hamer, O’Hare, Burrows, Ahmedhodzic, Souza, Campbell (Moore 58, Oné 69 ), Brooks (Rak-Sakyi 58), Peck (Arblaster 58).
Subs: Faxon, McCallum, Robinson, Norrington-Davies.
First half
Sheffield United controlled the early proceedings of the game, although it was Bristol City who had the game’s first real opportunity. In the 25th minute, Nahki Wells missed a glaring chance at the back post, but he steered his right-footed shot wide of the target.
The miss, despite it doing no damage, seemed to spark the Blades into life, and less than a minute later, Gustavo Hamer almost drew first blood, from an acute angle, only for his powerful low shot smacking against the base of the left post and whizzing back from where it came but out of play for a goal kick.
30 minutes into the game, Souttar suffered a nasty landing inside the Bristol City penalty area which required attention from the physio, fortunately, he was okay to continue.
After showing some neat touches down the right, Andre Brooks saw his name flashing in lights as he unleashed a long range shot from a central position which sailed high and wide.
Second half
The Robins should have taken the lead in the 56th minute through their captain, Jason Knight, as the midfielder could only divert his header, from a Max Bird’s free-kick, onto the outside of the post from the edge of the six-yard box.
A couple of minutes later, United made a triple change, Oliver Arblaster replacing Sydie Peck, Kieffer Moore taking the place of Tyrese Campbell, and Andre Brooks making way for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.
But it wasn’t until the final 15 minutes where this Bonfire night clash exploded into action. With the game becoming stretched, Sinclair Armstrong latched onto a through ball in behind the defence which saw Michael Cooper commit a penalty, as the forward raced in one-on-one against him.
After receiving a yellow card, the Blades’ keeper guessed the right way, but Anis Mehmeti’s penalty into the bottom right corner had too much power on it, as he gave Bristol City the lead on 75 minutes.
With ten minutes to go of normal time, the visitors were piling on the pressure as the home side were camped inside their own box. And due to the defensive work they were going through, it was no surprise that Kal Naismith appeared to have injured his hamstring, and he was replaced by Rob Dickie.
Unfortunately, Moore also had to be replaced by Ryan Oné after he suffered a calf injury. However, it was the teenage Scottish sensation that found United’s equaliser, in the 86th minute, as the big forward leaped above everyone to nod Souttar’s flick-on from a corner into the top left corner.
After some great pressing by both Callum O’Hare and Ryan Oné to win the ball back high up the pitch, O’Hare forced Rob Dickie into committing a professional foul which was punished with a red card in the 95th minute; the referee deemed Dickie to be the last man.
From the resulting free-kick, Gustavo Hamer could only clip the ball over the wall and into the grateful arms of the Robins’ shot-stopper Max O’Leary.
With a minimum of seven minutes to be played, there was at least three minutes left after the red card incident had to be cleared up. The Blades pushed every man forward in search of a winner, and eventually their pressure forced Bristol City’s defence to crack.
Oliver Arblaster’s mazy run around the edge of the box set up Harrison Burrows on the left of the penalty area. Holding off his man to make space for a shot, Burrows smashed the ball into the bottom right corner, right in front of the travelling Blades fans to seal a dramatic comeback win for Sheffield United.
The three points at Ashton Gate was enough to see the Blades jump up to second, on 28 points. Now, they turn their attention to the first Steel City derby of the season, with both sides taking victories into the clash at Bramall Lane this Sunday.