Sheffield United 2-1 Wolves: Blades FINALLY end winless streak thanks to Oliver Norwood’s last-gasp penalty after Jean-Ricner Bellegarde cancelled out Cameron Archer’s opener
Oliver Norwood recorded Sheffield United’s first win of the Premier League season with a controversial penalty in the 100th minute against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Norwood smashed the penalty off the bar to settle a sloppy and rain-soaked match, which came to life late on when Cameron Archer fired the Blades.
There were just 18 minutes to go when Archer ricocheted to beat Jose Sa with a blistering drive from 25 yards, also from the bar.
It was the home side’s first shot on target and it looked like it could be the winner until Jean-Ricner Bellegarde pulled off the equalizer in the 89th minute, his first goal for Wolves, a deflected shot from just inside the penalty area .
Then came the penalty, awarded for an innocent foul by Wolves substitute Fabio Silva on George Baldock, who could not fall quickly enough.
It had been one of those on-point encounters, with players from both sides making exaggerated errors all afternoon.
A long check followed as the error was checked by VAR Chris Kavanagh, who saw no reason to overturn referee Robert Jones’ decision on the pitch.
Norwood held his nerve and Bramall Lane celebrated. It took a long time.
Wolves arrived in Sheffield having taken eight points from their previous four games to lift the table, and they dominated the first half against a home side depleted by injuries and bereft of confidence but wasteful in front of goal.
The final passes went wrong and the finishing was wild. Nelson Semedo set the tone when he skied a chance in the opening exchange and Blades goalkeeper Wes Foderingham tipped over Matheus Cunha’s effort.
Tommy Doyle, on loan from Manchester City and starting his first Premier League game for Wolves after his 12 goals from midfield for Sheffield United helped them win promotion from the Championship last season, appeared to sympathize with his former team-mates as he made a free transfer launched. kick high over.
Just after the half hour there came a moment to summarize it all. Hee-chan Hwang slalomed into the penalty area, but cut his off-balance shot so badly that he played the ball square for Rayan Ait-Nouri.
The only problem was that Ait-Nouri was making a career forward and wasn’t expecting it to come his way, and with the goal wide open he could only divert the chance wide.
Sheffield United created nothing for 45 minutes. Rhian Brewster and Cameron Archer found it difficult to hold the ball against the Wolves’ three centre-backs and Brewster limped off just before half-time with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.
Heckingbottom sent on James McAtee, who added quality, and they came back with greater urgency after the break. Archer shot over from the edge of the penalty area and they got Jose Sa to foul on the ball.
McAtee and Gustavo Hamer bombarded Sa’s goal from distance and created strong pressure for the home side, but still did not force the Wolves keeper to make a save.
They waited 72 minutes for a shot on target, but it was worth the wait. Archer took advantage of his luck, an attempted clearance from Toti Gomes rebounding off James McAtee to send him clear.
The finish was sublime, the match came to life and perhaps Sheffield United will come to life too.
