Sunderland 1-2 Sheffield United: The Blades cement their hold on second place in the Championship with a rudimentary road win over the Black Cats… thanks in part to a controversial free-kick winner
- United are six points behind Middlesbrough, who beat Stoke last night
- James McAtee leveled the score before halftime after the Black Cats scored first
- Tommy Doyle’s free kick was not without controversy, but it ultimately stuck
Sheffield United returned to winning ways by claiming a much-needed 2-1 Championship comeback win at Sunderland in the Premier League promotion race.
The second-placed Blades are now six points clear of third-placed Middlesbrough ahead of this Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final with Blackburn.
Sunderland, hoping to close the gap in the play-off places, took the lead when French midfielder Edouard Michut scored his first English soccer goal after half an hour.
But after James McAtee equalized near the end of the first half, Sheffield United scored the winner when Tommy Doyle’s free-kick from the left rebounded just after the hour.
Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele was photographed with Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus at the Estadio de la Luz to watch the match.
Tommy Doyle (pictured) was over the moon after his superb free kick put the visitors ahead
The local team put the visitors to the test, but in the end they were left without their share of the points
Edouard Michut (pictured left) teamed up with fellow Frenchman Abdoullah Ba for the opener.
Sheffield United knew this was not going to be an easy task. Sunderland, unchanged since winning at Norwich last time out, have impressed against most teams this season and still have a chance of a top six.
But Paul Heckingbottom’s visitors, who made four changes from the team that lost at home to Luton, came quickly out of the blocks without finding the net.
McAtee, one of those changes, had a goal-scoring effort blocked by Dan Ballard and, from the resulting corner, Anel Ahmedhodzic headed the deflected ball before an even better opportunity.
Moments after Trai Hume forced an early save from Wes Foderingham, following a clever backheel from Patrick Roberts, Sheffield United went back on the attack.
Forward Daniel Jebbison was the first to approach as he cut inside his shoulder and his shot from the edge of the box forced goalkeeper Anthony Patterson to duck and deflect the ball with confidence.
James McAtee scored moments before half time to send both teams to half time.
The Blades kept their slight lead and came back to win after losing to Luton.
Jebbison was lucky to escape injury soon after when Hume recklessly dived near the touchline and took the man, completely missing the ball with a wild challenge on the striker, and was given a yellow card instead of a red.
Less than four minutes later Sunderland took the lead. Abdoullah Ba’s pass picked out Michut just inside the box, the 20-year-old steadied himself before firing low and precisely into the far corner.
After that, there was little action at the goal mouth until McAtee equalized in first-half stoppage time. The midfielder opened up his body and curled his shot into the far corner after bursting into the box following a fine run from George Baldock.
Sunderland’s Patrick Roberts came close in the second half, testing Wes Foderingham (pictured) but eventually hit the post
The match descended into a scrap as Sunderland threw everything at the Blades.
Black Cats manager Tony Mowbray showed a frustrated figure on the bench during his team’s defeat.
The scorer almost created the second at the start of the second half. McAtee’s run and pass ended with Patterson having to shoot off his line to make an excellent save to deny Iliman Ndiaye’s low effort.
But Sheffield United were ahead just after the hour mark when Doyle’s free kick from the left flank bounced straight into the far corner. There were claims for offside, but they were rejected because Sander Berge was unable to touch.
That caused Sunderland to briefly come to life. Foderingham denied Ba first and then Roberts hit the foot of the post with a low shot from inside the box.
Sheffield United dealt with everything else that came their way to seal a victory at Wearside.