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27th November Bristol City 3 Sheffield United 0 (Attendance: 13,376)
Simonsen, Jordan (Taylor 34), Nosworthy, Montgomery, Britton, Evans, Cresswell, Bartley, Reid (Calve 79), Quinn (Ertl 61), Lowton.
Subs Not Used: Kozluk, Batth, Wright, Slew.
Booked: Simonsen 34, Taylor 74.
Sent-Off: Cresswell 45.
Man of The Match: Stephen Quinn.
Bristol City Line-up: James, McAllister, Fontaine, Elliott (Cisse 73), Clarkson, Skuse, Ribeiro (Johnson 53), Adomah (Campbell-Ryce 77), Pitman, Rose, Caulker.
Subs Not Used: Stewart, Haynes, Gerken, Jackson.
Booked: Rose 45+3
Scorers: Pitman (pen) 6, (pen) 34, McAllister 62
Referee: Pat Miller (Bedfordshire).
Two first-half Brett Pitman penalties helped Bristol City defeat a 10-man Sheffield United 3-0 at Ashton Gate in the Championship.
The Blades recalled Stephen Quinn and Matt Lowton to the starting line-up. Mark yeates was still out injured.Garys Speeds men lined up with Andy Reid supporting lone frontman Ched Evans. The Robins made two changes to their starting eleven, Brett Pitman came in to replace the injured Jon Stead and David Clarkson took Lee Johnson's spot.
The home side took an early lead with Pitman penalty after just six minutes. A flick on the half way line from Pitman released Cole Skuse on the left wing. The midfielder then laid a ball through to Clarkson who managed to control inside the box only to be fouled by Leon Britton.
To be fair to United they had been the better side before the goal. Lowton had Blades goalkeeper Steve Simonsen to thank after 25 minutes when Clarkson caught him on the ball on the edge of the area. Danny Rose managed to break away from the right-back only for Simonsen to spread himself well and deny the on-loan midfielder.
On the half-hour Albert Adomah picked up the ball 25 yards out and unleashed a shot, which looked destined for the top corner. Simonsen was up to the task, however, pulling off a great save to deny the ex-Barnet man. Jamie McAllister sent in a corner from the left towards the back post where Liam Fontaine controlled and fired away a left-footed shot. The ball hit the arm of Richard Cresswell from close range and the referee agreed, signalling once more for a penalty. The referee had to give a penalty; a highly paid professional footballer should stand and take on in the face for the cause not put his hands up to block, it’s obvious what the outcome would be. So, Pitman stepped-up again and this time put the ball down the middle, with Simonsen diving to his right.
Just two minutes later Clarkson could have made it 3-0 to the hosts. A reverse pass from Pitman set the former Motherwell man through on goal but his shot was well saved by Simonsen's body. Right on half-time things went from bad to worse for United when Cresswell was given his marching orders for a lunge on Elliott midway into City's half. The Blades striker could not have any complaints about the decision it was dangerous play and that was the end of the game as far as the United following were concerned.
The home side made a substitution after 52 minutes when Christian Ribeiro was forced off the field with a knee injury, to be replaced by Lee Johnson. Just after the hour mark Johnson marked his first touch on the ball with a neat pass to release Pitman but again Simonsen was on hand to pull off a good save.
From the resulting set-piece McAllister scored direct from the corner, leaving the beleaguered Blades defence to complain that keeper Simonsen had been fouled. The Blades had their keeper to thank for keeping the score at 3-0 though soon after. This time Rose fired from close range with Simonsen making a fine diving stop. With the minutes running down the home side were happy to play keep ball and force the ten men of United to chase the ball.
During injury time United had their best chance of the match when Ched Evans tried a chip from 30 yards, only to see it rebound back of the bar to safety. At the other end Liam Fontaine's clever chip into the box and Steven Caulker missed from six yards out. This performance was a disgrace and needs to be forgotten quickly.
Blades Player Performance Ratings v. Bristol City: Simonsen 6, Jordan 6, Taylor 6, Calve 6, Nosworthy 5, Bartley 6, Britton 5, Lowton 6, Ertl 6, Montgomery 6, Quinn 7, Cresswell 4, Reid 6, Evans 5,
20th November Sheffield United 3 Crystal Palace 2 (Attendance: 20,240)
Simonsen, Calve (Lowton 81), Nosworthy, Bartley,Jordan, Britton, Reid, Montgomery, Yeates, Evans,Cresswell (Bogdanovic 66).
Subs Not Used: Wright, Ertl, Taylor, Kozluk, Quinn.
Booked: Britton 76.
Sent-Off: Bogdanovic 90+4.
Scorers: Cresswell (pen) 39, Evans 85, Bogdanovic (pen) 87.
Man of The Match: Andy Reid.
Palace Line-up: Speroni, Clyne, Davis, McCarthy (O'Keefe 51),Wright, Danns, Garvan, Marrow, N'Diaye, Vaughan, Zaha,O'Keefe (Counago 89).
Subs Not Used: Price, Dorman, Cadogan, Djilali, Obika.
Booked: Garvan 37, Clyne 78.
Sent-Off: Garvan 37 (straight red card).
Scorers: Danns (pen) 18, Vaughan 63.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
Two late goals secured Sheffield United a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace in an eventful Championship game at the Lane.
United made just one change to their side with Richard Cresswell replacing Mat Lowton. Ched Evans joined Cresswell up front in a 4-4-2 formation. The Eagles had Alassane N'Diaye replacing the injured Darren Ambrose in midfield.
The Blades started the brighter of the two sides kicking towards the Shoreham Kop in the first half. It was the visitors who had the first real opening when Wilfried Zaha won a free kick out wide which was taken by Owen Garvan and his cross fell into the box it ended up in the keeper's hands off Nyron Nosworthy.
After 17 minutes, Neil Danns looked to get on the end of a cross from the right by Alassane N'diaye but was adjudged to have been fouled by Stephen Jordan and a penalty kick was awarded. In reality the Palace midfielder had conned the referee with a clear dive. Danns picked the ball up and made no mistake against goalkeeper Steve Simonsen to give the visitors the lead.
The Blades attempted to hit straight back at Palace and two set pieces from Andy Reid. One a free kick outside the box which went wide of the target and then his corner was headed just wide by Kyle Bartley moments later. At the other end, James Vaughan found Wilfried Zaha and his shot was well blocked by Simonsen.
More controversy followed when Nathaniel Clyne was adjudged to have fouled Evans as he battled through into the box. The referee to everyone surprise gave a penalty as the Lane striker went down as the Palace defender challenged. Garvan was booked for dissent as he contested the decision and was then showed a straight red card for foul and abusive language before the penalty could be taken. Cresswell made no mistake firing past goalkeeper Julian Speroni and put the Blades back on level terms. The two penalties were certainly the talking points as the teams left the field for the interval.
Second half started with an early chance for United as Evans was in the centre to get on the end of a cross from Reid but the header did not trouble Speroni as he was unablet keep the ball down and it went over the bar. An early blow for the visitors in the half saw their captain Paddy McCarthy leave the field with an injury and was replace by Stuart O Keefe.
Cresswell should have done better with a close range header and then Speroni produced an excellent save to deny the same man when he looked certain to score from close range.From the save Palace broke clear and Clyne on the break sent over the perfect cross for an unmarked Vaughan to head home past Simonsen to give his side the lead.
Just past the hour mark, Speroni pulled off another save to keep his side ahead when he got his hand to a shot by Calve. The constant pressure from the Blades
Was causing chaos in the Palace backline, Speroni saving from Evans and Claude Davis clearing for a corner twice as United struggled to break down the brave defensive display from the visitors. With fifteen minutes to go N'Diaye's cleared from the goal line the ball hitting teammate Davis and over the bar. Then David Wright blocked from a Mark Yeates effort. Eventaully the Blades found their equaliser when Bartley headed against the bar and then despite Speroni's efforts Evans converted from the near post. Just a minute later and it was another penalty as Davis clearly fouled Blades substitute Daniel Bogdanovic and he got up to slot home the penalty to the keeper's right hand side.
There was four minutes of added time and there was one more controversial moment when Bogdanovic was shown red for a dangerous foul on Clyne. It had been an eventful evening at the Lane. The Blades deserved the victory but the match will be remembered as one which was spoiled by some poor refereeing decisions.
Blades Player Performance Ratings v. Crystal Palace: Simonsen 6, Calve 5, Lowton 6, Jordan 7, Nosworthy 5, Bartley 6, Britton 6, Reid 7, Montgomery 7, Yeates 7, Evans 7, Cresswell 6, Bogdanovic 6.
13th November Millwall 0 Sheffield United 1 (Attendance: 11,312)
Simonsen, Calve (Ertl 75), Jordan, Nosworthy, Bartley, Lowton. Montgomery, Britton, Yeates (Taylor 82), Reid, Evans (Cresswell 67).
Subs Not Used: Wright, Kozluk, Bogdanovic, Slew.
Scorer: Reid 29.
Man of The Match: Andy Reid.
Millwall Line-up: Forde, Dunne, Barron, Trotter, Robinson, Shittu, Schofield (Hackett 57 (Hughes-Mason 77)), Mkandawire, Marquis (Harris 57), Morison, Henry.
Subs Not Used: Mildenhall, Craig, Ward, Abdou.
Booked: Robinson 15, Barron 76.
Referee: Tony Bates (Staffordshire).
Sheffield United moved out of the Championship relegation zone after Andy Reid's first goal for the club gave them a 1-0 win at Millwall.
The Blades made two changes to the side with Jean Calve and Ched Evans returned to the starting up. Richard Cresswell was on the bench and Evans was the Lone frontman for Gary Speeds men. Steve Morison was recalled to the Lions side replacing Lewis Grabban in attack.
United had the first effort on goal with Reid forcing Millwall goalkeeper David Forde into action with a 20-yard shot. The home side quickly found their rhythm and after some indecisive defending from Stephen Jordan and Nyron Nosworthy, it allowed Morison to put the ball in the box for James Henry, the midfielder firing a shot across the goal which deflected of Kyle Bartley and out, before Danny Schofield sent an effort wide.
Moments later, Scott Barron's corner found Morison and his goal bound header was cleared away by Calve on the line, before Morison volleyed wide. Then, after Jordan fouled Alan Dunne on the right, a Henry delivery into the box caused havoc among the Blades defence and Millwall captain Paul Robinson had two pokes at the ball from close range but goalkeeper Steve Simonsen did well to block before the danger was cleared.
The Lions were having the better of the proceeding at this stage, with 19 minutes gone the dangerous Morison got a sight of goal but his lofted effort was saved by Simonsen. A minute later, United were caught napping. From a soft free-kick award midway inside the Blades half after Leon Britton had supposedly fouled Tamika Mkandawire. Henry's delivered al long ball to the back post which found the onrushing unmarked Danny Shittu but he headed over.
In the 29th minute, the Blades made Millwall pay for their prodigality when John Marquis gave the ball to Jordan, he fed a Mark Yeates and a quick break allowed Reid to rush beyond the Millwall rear-guard push the ball just past Scott Barron’s defensive challenge and fire a wonderful strike which hit the underside of the bar and finally nestled the back of the Millwall net. The home side pressed in search of an equaliser before the break but the only effort of note was when Morison headed over from 12 yards out.
The hosts did made a bright start to the second-half, a long punt caused confusion between Nosworthy and Matt Lowton and Marquis fired over. Then, Yeates struck a shot wide from just outside the area with goalkeeper David Forde scrambling across goal. Liam Trotter headed wide for Millwall and then Lions manager Kenny Jackett threw on Neil Harris and Chris Hackett in an attempt to force an equaliser.
Right-winger Hackett tried to make an immediate impact and fired wide from distance before Robinson headed over Barron's corner. Speed made a substitution for United when Cresswell came on for Evans in attack. In the final 15 minutes Millwall were having more of the game, this forced two more changes in the Blades side, Johnny Ertl on for Calve and Andy Taylor replacing Yeates.
Late-on Millwall substitute Kiernan Hughes-Mason, tried to con the referee by throwing himself to the ground the United box for which he should have been booked. More diving in the United box followed, as the home side became ever more desperate, first Henry and then Morison throwing themselves to the ground. In the final moments of the five minutes of injury time, Nosworthy’s clearance went to Hughes-Mason and he shot from 20 yards out, the ball deflecting of Trotter and the ball going narrowly wide.
Blades Player Performance Ratings v. Millwall: Simonsen 7, Calve 6, Ertl 6, Jordan 6, Nosworthy 6, Bartley 7, Lowton 6, Montgomery 7, Britton 6, Yeates 7, Taylor 6, Reid 8, Evans 6, Cresswell 6.
10th November Leicester City 2 Sheffield United 2 (Attendance: 20,445)
Simonsen, Lowton, Jordan, Nosworthy, Bartley, Montgomery, Britton, Quinn, , Reid (Ertl 79), Yeates, Cresswell (Bogdanovic 86).
Subs Not Used: Wright, Evans, Calve, Taylor, Kozluk.
Booked: Jordan 65, Reid 76, Bogdanovic 90+1.
Scorer: Yeates 29, 41.
Man of The Match: Mark Yeates.
Leicester Line-up: Weale, Gallagher, King, Waghorn (Howard 55), Naughton, Wellens, Abe (Fryatt 74), Davies, Hobbs, Cunningham, Vassell (Dyer 55).
Subs Not Used: Morrison, Logan, Berner, Moussa.
Scorers: Gallagher 8, Howard (pen) 90+2.
Referee: Phil Gibbs (West Midlands).
A late penalty from Steve Howard denied Sheffield United a deserved victory at the Walkers Stadium in a 2-2 draw.
Manager Gary Speed brought back Steven Jordan into the starting eleven at left-back, which meant Nyron Nosworthy moving to centre-back partnering Kyle Bartley. Richard Cresswell was the love striker for the Blades. Sven-Goran Eriksson made one change to his side with Jack Hobbs returning to the line-up.
In the early stage the home side had the better moments, striker Martyn Waghorn testing Blades goalkeeper Steve Simonsen, with a vicious shot in the 2nd minute. Atfer a couple of corner for the Foxes, the host grabbed an early lead. Waghorn was brought down on the edge of the area. Paul Gallagher stepped up and whipped a tremendous curling shot in to the top left corner, putting the home side ahead.
Leicester got beyond the Blades defence again five minutes later, but Andy King was unable to reach the through ball from Kyle Naughton, playing against his former side.
The Blades had their first attempt at goal in the 28th minute, when Yeates fired at goalkeeper Chris Weale. But then just a minute later, United levelled the scores and it was Yeates who made the Foxes pay for being out of position; Andy Reid made a run down the left-wing and passed the ball into the middle where Yeates passed the ball into net.
United were then on top for a prolonged period of play, Stephen Quinn caused confusion in the hosts defence with a dipping cross over Weale, with no one able to take advantage of the midfielder's vision.
The Blades continued to have a grip on the game, after the home sides’ positive start and earlier advantage. In the 40th minute the Blades won a free-kick on the edge of the area, Yeates struck a superb goal, curling a sensational shot with his right-foot, leaving keeper Weale with no chance much to the delight of the traveling faithful.
The second-half began with Leicester unable to find a way through the Blades defence. This prompted Eriksson into making a double substitution in the 55th minute. Steve Howard replaced Waghorn, whilst Darius Vassell was replaced by Lloyd Dyer, as the City boss tried to freshen up his side.
After 67 minutes, Wellens was fouled on the edge of the Blades area. The resulting free-kick from Gallagher was stuck towards the bottom corner, only for Simonsen to make a tremendous save for the Blades. Scottish striker Howard then found Abe in the 70th minute, but his shot was well saved from distance by Simonsen.
Then, Eriksson made his final change of the game, with Abe replaced by Matty Fryatt. Five minutes later, Reid was replaced by Johnny Ertl as United defended their lead. The hoem sides’ pressure increased and Daniel Bogdanovic came on for Cresswell late-on.
Distaster struck after two minutes of injury time had elapsed; a punt into the United 18 yard box from was headed away and the somehow hit Yeates. The ball hit his chest, but the referee who was badly positioned pointed to the spot and Howard despatched the penalty to give the home side a undeserved point.
Blades Player Performance Ratings v. Leicester: Simonsen 7, Lowton 6, Jordan 6, Nosworthy 7, Bartley 6, Montgomery 6, Britton 7, Quinn 6, Reid 8, Ertl 6, Yeates 8, Cresswell 7, Bogdanovic 6.
6th November Sheffield United 1 Ipswich town 2 (Attendance: 19,207)
Simonsen, Lowton, Nosworthy, Ertl (Bogdanovic 79), Bartley, Montgomery, Britton, Quinn, Yeates, Cresswell, Ward (Evans 45).
Subs Not Used: Wright, Calve, Taylor, Kozluk, Parrino.
Booked: Bartley 90, Montgomery 90.
Scorer: Quinn 29.
Man of The Match: Stephen Quinn.
Ipswich Line-up: Fulop, Eastman (Brown 85), McAuley, Delaney, Smith, Edwards, Leadbitter, Livermore, Colback, Scotland (Wickham 56), Priskin (Peters 70).
Subs Not Used: Hyam, Murray, Townsend, Murphy.
Booked: Edwards 87, Delaney 90, Fulop 90.
Scorers: Priskin 6, McAuley 40.
Referee: Graham Salisbury (Lancashire).
First-half strikes from Tamas Priskin and Gareth McAuley gave Ipswich to a 2-1 Championship win over Sheffield United at the Lane. With Chris Morgan out for the rest of the season manager Gary Speed was forced to reshuffle his defence. Johnny Ertl dropped into central defence to partner Kyle Bartley and Matt Lowton was back in the starting eleven at right-back. Nick Montgomery returned to midfield taking the captain's armband. Ipswich made one change from the side that beat Millwall last week with Jake Livermore coming into midfield in place of the injured David Norris.
The Tractor Boys must have won the toss because the Blades were forced to kick towards the Shoreham Kop. Just seven minutes had elapsed when the visitors grabbed the lead. From a long Carlos Edwards throw, Montgomery missed his attempt to clear and Priskin found himself with enough space to prod the ball past goalkeeper SteveSimonsen from inside the six-yard box. Soon after, Damien Delaney sent a header over from a Grant Leadbitter corner as the visitors continued to dominate, Priskin then rattling the post with a left footed effort. The Blades were close to grabbing an equaliser on 20 minutes, Jamie Ward's trickery took him away from McAuley and from his cross Richard Cresswell's header was cleared off the line by Delaney, Mark Yeates blasting the rebound past the post.
The Blades were level though eight minutes later when a Yeates cross was blocked by McAuley, then Quinn beat Ipswich goalkeeper Marton Fulop after Leadbitter had given away possession. Full-back Tom Eastman cleared from Yeates as United enjoyed their best spell of the first-half but it was the visitors who continued to carry a threat helped by some woeful defending from the Blades,.
With five minute remaining in the half, Leadbitter delivered and McAuley McAuley got the better of Bartley before firing past Simonsen from close range to give Ipswich a 2-1 lead. On the half-time whistle United were booed off. The Blades had scored and had chances, but overall their play had been poor, too predictable, congested in midfield and, some less than convincing defending made it a half to forget. It could only get better.
Ched Evans replaced Ward at the break, the visitors then made an early change when they brought Connor Wickham on for Scotland and he created an opening for Colback on the edge of the box but he failed to hit the target. Keeper Fulop pushed Bartley's blistering 20 yard effort on to the post, while at the other end McAuley was close to adding to his first-half goal with a header from Colback's corner, Simonsen making the save.
Evans fired wide before Ipswich made a second change with Jaime Peters coming on for Priskin. Daniel Bogdanovic replaced Ertl as the Blades went three at the back in an attempt to get the equaliser, and Bogdanovic tested keeper Fulop with a near post effort within seconds of coming on. Eastman was replaced by Troy Brown for the last five minutes, the teenage defender appearing to take a knock and being forced off. Late-on, Quinn sent a free-kick over the bar, via a deflection with Bogdanovic heading the corner over. Fulop was booked for time wasting as the visitors continued to run down the clock, the Hungarian international was then called into action to deny Evans inside the box with the Blades final desperate attempt at goal.
So another defeat and it will get worse unless those who run the club come out and state that there is going to be money for new signings. United need a full-time central defender and a proven centre forward who can score goals. It’s a sad sight to see a side that was playing Premier league football just a few years ago, now struggling simply because they have allowed their quality footballing assets to leave and have not replaced any of them, apart from a few loanees and journeymen, even though promises have been made prior to the season ticket sales.
If nothing happens or more ‘one month’ loanees are brought in you can expect to see dwindling attendance’s and a dog-fight to avoid relegation.
Blades Player Performance Ratings v. Ipswich: Simonsen 5, Lowton 5, Nosworthy 6, Ertl 5, Bogdanovic 5, Bartley 6, Montgomery 5, Britton 5, Quinn 6, Yeates 6, Cresswell 6, Ward 6, Evans 5.
2nd November Sheffield United skipper Chris Morgan has been ruled out for the rest of the season with cruciate ligament damage. The 32-year-old suffered the injury during Saturday's 1-0 Championship defeat by Coventry.
Boss Gary Speed said: "It's a massive blow for Chris and the club and realistically we won't see him in action until pre-season training. "The lads we have that can play in the central defender's role will miss his experience and spirit."
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