Sheffield United 0 v Sheffield Wednesday 0 - EFL Championship

Friday 9th November 2018
SkyBet EFLChampionship
at Bramall Lane
Sheffield United (0) 0
Sheffield Wednesday (0) 0
Attendance 30,261

Sheffield United:
Dean Henderson, Enda Stevens, John Fleck, Jack O'Connell, Chris Basham, Billy Sharp, John Egan, Ollie Norwood, David McGoldrick (Leon Clarke 75), Kieron Freeman, Mark Duffy.
Unused subs - George Baldock, Paul Coutts, Richard Stearman, Marvin Johnson, Simon Moore, Conor Washington
Sheffield Wednesday:
Callum Dawson, Morgan Fox, Joey Pelupessy, Steven Fletcher, Barry Bannan, Jordan Thorniley, Tom Lees, Adam Reach, Ashley Baker, Michael Hector, Matt Penney (Marco Matias 79).
Unused subs - Liam Palmer, Josh Onomah, Atdhe Nuhiu, Lucas Joao, Joe Wildsmith, Daniel Pudil

A game in which the visitors manager Jos Luhukay 'masterminded' (AKA completely stifled) a goalless draw in the Steel City Derby at Bramall Lane, the same ground that he made his debut in the Owls hot seat, back in January, when these two rival sides also drew 0-0.
The Dutchman's tactics were ugliness personified tonight, but with Wednesday arriving for this highly anticipated Friday night game, off the back of four straight Championship defeats in a row and having yet to keep a clean sheet in the league this term, they were hardly likely to throw caution to the wind and leave their back doors wide open, while going at it hammer and tongs on 'Charge of the Light Brigade' suicide mission

A win for Chris Wilder's Blades tonight would have seen them move back to the top of the Championship table, albeit only temporarily given the ever fluid juxtaposition of the composite elements of this division... but it wasn't to be, regardless of the fact that at least three quarters of the game seemed to be played in and around Wednesday's half of the pitch.
United were odds on favourites to win this 130th competitive fixture between these two sides, and even several Owls fans I know were openly admitting to dreading what the outcome of this most recent meeting might be, given the timing of the game, with the Blades being on such a roll while the Owls were seemingly in free fall.

Under normal circumstances, you'd expect the Hillsborough club's fan base to cut their cloth accordingly and perhaps lower the bar as regards their expectation level, given the grim realities of operating under a cloud of financial restrictions; but that is evidently easier said than done, while their city rivals are lording it up over them and making a serious bid for promotion to the Premier League, possibly even via a Championship title win. Though I would imagine that the Samaritans would have to employ a few thousand extra switchboard operators to deal with the overwhelming influx of calls from the northern end of Sheffield if that scenario becomes a reality.

United in grief... lest we forget. Sheffield remembers.

Over the years, I have watched these two sides face each other on numerous occasions, they're always highly charged and passionate affairs and even the deluge of rain of Biblical proportions that descended on Sheffield tonight, was ever going to dampen the atmosphere, but the match itself definitely won't be featuring on any 'Greatest Local Derby Games Ever' compilation DVD any time soon, because this forty second draw between the two teams (United have previously won forty six and Wednesday forty two) was, in a nutshell, about one team  shutting out the other, with monotonous regularity.

The Blades completely dominated possession and really should have turned the screw and claimed all three points on offer, but off the ball, the Owls had shut down space and steadfastly implemented spoiling tactics from the outset. I didn't exactly make for compelling viewing, but tactically, Luhukay knew his teams strengths, but more to the point, he knew their weaknesses too and employed a system to minimise risk taking.
Football is a part of the entertainment industry, but, in the main, managers are employed to get results... and a goalless draw at Bramall Lane is, to all intents and purposes, a good one for the blue half of Sheffield. If they had gone with three at the back and taken on their high flying rivals in a more open game, it is highly likely that they would have left empty handed.

I don't want to give the Owls or their manager any credit in lieu of the dire spectacle that they provided tonight, but can fully understand the 'horses for courses' logic behind their negativity.
Though the Blades pulverised their neighbours for long spells, even when they did find chinks in the Wednesday armour, Cameron Dawson, the visitors goalkeeper performed heroics to secure a point for his side.
Having saved a penalty last Saturday, in a home defeat against Norwich, Dawson did well to push David McGoldrick's fifteenth minute spot kick around the post, at full stretch to his left, after Morgan Fox had upended Mark Duffy as he combined with McGoldrick inside the Owls goalmouth.
Dawson also tipped a long range effort from John Fleck behind, and made a further two decent stops to thwart both McGoldrick and Duffy.

At the other end: Morgan Fox turned the ball over the bar from inside the six yard box, but in truth: Dean Henderson, the Blades number one, only had a solitary shot (of sorts) to deal with all night, when Marco Matias did well to make himself some space, but aimed the ball directly at United's keeper

In added time, Billy Sharp, United's captain, glanced a header wide from a cornerand with the final kick of the game, Ollie Norwood's looping free kick was saved by Dawson.

FT: Sheffield United 0 v Sheffield Wednesday 0

Thankfully, I was parked on Clough Street, about a hundred yards away from the Kop exit, so I avoided getting too wet after the game... a Blades fan was moaning to me during the short mad dash to the car, about Wilder's side "Buggering about around their area and not getting it forward into the mix quickly enough"; but hit and hope directness, only works when you've got the likes of Tony Agana and Brian Deane waiting on the end of it, to provide the finishing touches.

Tonight United might stand accused (though not by me, I hasten to add) of overplaying the ball in key areas, but with their clear route to goal blocked, time after time, surely keeping the ball until a clear opening presents itself is best policy.

In the grand scheme of things, United grafted throughout, to unlock a crowded Owls defence... and would've won by a couple of goals, at the very least, if Dawson hadn't played as well as he did.