Deadbat
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It was a desperate ending for the Blades in the proverbial relegation six pointer at Bramall Lane on Boxing Day afternoon. United trailed and were second best first half with another error from beleaguered keeper Wes Foderingham. The home side fought back though and goals from McBurnie and Ahmedhodzic saw them turn the game around. However, Luton stepped up again but needed two own goals from Robinson and sub Slimane to complete the comeback and the victory. United now sit firmly rooted a long way from safety and now know they will need something incredible in the second half of the season to avoid a quick return to the Championship. Whilst there has been improvements under Wilder, it is ultimately only 1 win in 5 under the new manager and the same issues with this over matched group persists that lacks the basic ingredients of skill, pace, athleticism, fitness, and composure. That allied to a weak mentality that sees the team lose leads and concede late goals and the recipe is not a good one and any confidence that the fans had of United at least being competitive in the relegation fight surely has now ebbed away?
Wilder did make changes in bringing back McAtee, Hamer, McBurnie and Ahmedhodzic. We also saw surprise returns on the bench for Norrington Davies and Brewster. He switched to a back four against a Luton side buoyed from a superb win against Newcastle and having a real go at staying in the league despite the difficulties of losing their skipper Tom Lockyer recently after his cardiac arrest. They started former England internationals Andros Townsend and Ross Barkley in midfield but last year’s leading scorer Carlton Morris, was left on the bench.
Luton settled the better of the two sides and with Barkley getting on the ball early, and a great deal of the game was being played in the United half. The home side were strangely sitting back and conceding possession, even against a struggler and Luton won two early corners. Ahmedhozic was booked after losing the battle and then hauling his man down clumsily. United were struggling to get their forward players into the game although McAtee had one decent run to get them up the pitch but on 17 minutes disaster struck. Trusty had struggled positionally to start the game and Doughty seemed to have the run of the right-hand side and he got in again although Hamer’s apology of a challenge was indefensible. DOUGHTY drove into the box and hit a low shot that should have been a routine save for Foderingham but somehow it squeezed through his legs and into the net. The away fans did not even realise it had gone in till the Hatters played celebrated in the corner amidst the groans from the Bramall Lane.
United tried to get a response and Hamer had a free kick pushed away from Kaminski. Luton continued to attack though and were not sitting back and Adebayo was a real handful getting the better of Ahmedhodzic on several occasions. Townsend had a shot blocked before McAtee curled over at the other end. Barkley headed wide for Luton and then Hamer was cautioned for his foul on Lokonga.
After being second best for much of the half, United did improve towards the interval and following a corner, the ball dropped to Brooks whose shot clipped a defender and bounced up and away. The next delivery that came in, was met by Trusty and it hit the top of the bar and up and over in the closest the home side came to scoring.
Wilder opted to change things at the break and took off Brooks for Lowe and switched to a back 5 and tried to plug the left side where Doughty had caused all sorts of problems. United did play at a higher intensity and the Kop responded. McBurnie and Archer started to see more of the ball and McAtee was carrying the ball as the game opened. Archer did well down the right and his cross was perfect for Lowe but his effort was blocked by Lokonga. However, Luton remained a threat on the break and Townsend shot over after Souza gave the ball away, a rare poor moment for the midfielder who had been one of United’s better players.
On the hour, the home side were level. McAtee made it with an excellent run and as he moved towards the area a combination of Luton defenders seemed to clumsily take him out but as the referee waited, the midfielder, sat on the deck, managed to cleverly flick the ball on towards MCBURNIE. The striker drilled it via the body of Kaminski and into the corner and United were back in it.
The Blades now sensed they had Luton on the backfoot and were throwing men forward with Lowe and Baldock both advanced in many of the raids on the Hatters goal. Indeed, it was Baldock who was involved in the second goal as his cross was not cleared properly and McBurnie fired it back in. The ball fell for Lowe who hit it but it deflected and span towards the line. McAtee seemed set to finish but a Luton defender managed to get back and deny him before Archer was then somehow blocked out right in front of goal before it fell for AHMEDHODZIC who cooly side footed into the far corner. The turnaround was complete and United fans sensed a second consecutive home victory.
Ogbene and Morris came on for Giles and Adebayo for Luton and Slimane replaced Hamer as the game entered the final 20 minutes. United unwisely retreated and were now sitting back rather than going for the goal that would finish the game and Luton started to get back into the game Barkley continued to probe and Morris was a handful and had one cross blocked. A corner was awarded when the referee seemed to decide it came off Baldock. When he decided it was not a foul (it wasn’t) it should have been a goal kick. The corner came in and was not cleared properly and fell for Morris on the right who sent over a dangerous cross. With the United defence deep and Foderingham opting not to come, the ball was flicked into his own net by ROBINSON (OG) past the keepers’ despairing dive and parity was restored only 8 minutes after United had led.
Baldock was booked for his protests before Robinson then also saw a yellow card for a reckless foul on Osho and United seemed to be losing their heads. Luton now sensed a real vulnerability in the United defence and continued to put crosses in and another attack saw the influential Morris cut back inside leaving Ahmedhodzic on his backside before hitting a cross that somehow hit SLIMANE (OG) and spooned up and over Foderingham and Lowe on the far post and suddenly Luton led. Two own goals in 4 minutes summed things up for the Blades in this disastrous season.
Wilder made a triple change with Brewster, Osula and Norwood on for Robinson, Archer and Souza and United now were just throwing men forward in an attempt to at least salvage something from the game. Osula had a good effort with an overhead kick that Kaminski pushed over before the game ticked into 8 minutes of stoppage time. Slimane fired over when well-placed and the final chance with Foderingham up, saw Trusty blaze into the Kop and that was it. A massive three points and back-to-back wins for the visitors who are giving themselves a real chance of staying in the division. For the home side, it is a different manager but the stark reality was shown with another game where in his words we ‘chucked it away’ and with Man City to come at the weekend, United are set to be firmly entrenched in bottom spot as we start the New Year and seemingly needing a miracle to survive.
Wilder did make changes in bringing back McAtee, Hamer, McBurnie and Ahmedhodzic. We also saw surprise returns on the bench for Norrington Davies and Brewster. He switched to a back four against a Luton side buoyed from a superb win against Newcastle and having a real go at staying in the league despite the difficulties of losing their skipper Tom Lockyer recently after his cardiac arrest. They started former England internationals Andros Townsend and Ross Barkley in midfield but last year’s leading scorer Carlton Morris, was left on the bench.
Luton settled the better of the two sides and with Barkley getting on the ball early, and a great deal of the game was being played in the United half. The home side were strangely sitting back and conceding possession, even against a struggler and Luton won two early corners. Ahmedhozic was booked after losing the battle and then hauling his man down clumsily. United were struggling to get their forward players into the game although McAtee had one decent run to get them up the pitch but on 17 minutes disaster struck. Trusty had struggled positionally to start the game and Doughty seemed to have the run of the right-hand side and he got in again although Hamer’s apology of a challenge was indefensible. DOUGHTY drove into the box and hit a low shot that should have been a routine save for Foderingham but somehow it squeezed through his legs and into the net. The away fans did not even realise it had gone in till the Hatters played celebrated in the corner amidst the groans from the Bramall Lane.
United tried to get a response and Hamer had a free kick pushed away from Kaminski. Luton continued to attack though and were not sitting back and Adebayo was a real handful getting the better of Ahmedhodzic on several occasions. Townsend had a shot blocked before McAtee curled over at the other end. Barkley headed wide for Luton and then Hamer was cautioned for his foul on Lokonga.
After being second best for much of the half, United did improve towards the interval and following a corner, the ball dropped to Brooks whose shot clipped a defender and bounced up and away. The next delivery that came in, was met by Trusty and it hit the top of the bar and up and over in the closest the home side came to scoring.
Wilder opted to change things at the break and took off Brooks for Lowe and switched to a back 5 and tried to plug the left side where Doughty had caused all sorts of problems. United did play at a higher intensity and the Kop responded. McBurnie and Archer started to see more of the ball and McAtee was carrying the ball as the game opened. Archer did well down the right and his cross was perfect for Lowe but his effort was blocked by Lokonga. However, Luton remained a threat on the break and Townsend shot over after Souza gave the ball away, a rare poor moment for the midfielder who had been one of United’s better players.
On the hour, the home side were level. McAtee made it with an excellent run and as he moved towards the area a combination of Luton defenders seemed to clumsily take him out but as the referee waited, the midfielder, sat on the deck, managed to cleverly flick the ball on towards MCBURNIE. The striker drilled it via the body of Kaminski and into the corner and United were back in it.
The Blades now sensed they had Luton on the backfoot and were throwing men forward with Lowe and Baldock both advanced in many of the raids on the Hatters goal. Indeed, it was Baldock who was involved in the second goal as his cross was not cleared properly and McBurnie fired it back in. The ball fell for Lowe who hit it but it deflected and span towards the line. McAtee seemed set to finish but a Luton defender managed to get back and deny him before Archer was then somehow blocked out right in front of goal before it fell for AHMEDHODZIC who cooly side footed into the far corner. The turnaround was complete and United fans sensed a second consecutive home victory.
Ogbene and Morris came on for Giles and Adebayo for Luton and Slimane replaced Hamer as the game entered the final 20 minutes. United unwisely retreated and were now sitting back rather than going for the goal that would finish the game and Luton started to get back into the game Barkley continued to probe and Morris was a handful and had one cross blocked. A corner was awarded when the referee seemed to decide it came off Baldock. When he decided it was not a foul (it wasn’t) it should have been a goal kick. The corner came in and was not cleared properly and fell for Morris on the right who sent over a dangerous cross. With the United defence deep and Foderingham opting not to come, the ball was flicked into his own net by ROBINSON (OG) past the keepers’ despairing dive and parity was restored only 8 minutes after United had led.
Baldock was booked for his protests before Robinson then also saw a yellow card for a reckless foul on Osho and United seemed to be losing their heads. Luton now sensed a real vulnerability in the United defence and continued to put crosses in and another attack saw the influential Morris cut back inside leaving Ahmedhodzic on his backside before hitting a cross that somehow hit SLIMANE (OG) and spooned up and over Foderingham and Lowe on the far post and suddenly Luton led. Two own goals in 4 minutes summed things up for the Blades in this disastrous season.
Wilder made a triple change with Brewster, Osula and Norwood on for Robinson, Archer and Souza and United now were just throwing men forward in an attempt to at least salvage something from the game. Osula had a good effort with an overhead kick that Kaminski pushed over before the game ticked into 8 minutes of stoppage time. Slimane fired over when well-placed and the final chance with Foderingham up, saw Trusty blaze into the Kop and that was it. A massive three points and back-to-back wins for the visitors who are giving themselves a real chance of staying in the division. For the home side, it is a different manager but the stark reality was shown with another game where in his words we ‘chucked it away’ and with Man City to come at the weekend, United are set to be firmly entrenched in bottom spot as we start the New Year and seemingly needing a miracle to survive.