Friday 14th Deceember 2018
SkyBet EFL Championship
at Bramall Lane
Sheffield United (1) 1
David McGoldrick 12
West Bromwich Albion (1) 2
Gareth Barry 41, Kieran Gibbs 76
Attendance: 23,400
Sheffield United:
Dean Henderson, George Baldock, Enda Stevens (Marvin Johnson 90), John Fleck (Paul Coutts 58), Jack O'Connell,Chris Basham, Billy Sharp, John Egan, Ollie Norwood, David McGoldrick, Mark Duffy (Conor Washington 76).
Unused subs - Richard Stearman, Simon Moore, Tyler Smith, Martin Cranie
West Bromwich Albion:
Sam Johnstone, Kieran Gibbs, Jake Livermore, Matt Phillips, Harvey Barnes (Chris Brunt 90), Dwight Gayle, Gareth Barry, Jay Rodriguez, Tosin Adarabioyo, Craig Dawson, Ahmed Hegazi.
Unused subs - Bakary Sako, Tyrone Mears, Boaz Myhill, Conor Townsend, Oliver Burke, Rekeem Harper
I've seen West Bromwich Albion in action twice already this season when they drew 1-1 at both
Nottingham Forest and
Birmingham City.
While the two previous games that I attended at Bramall Lane, when
Birmingham City and
Sheffield Wednesday were the visitors, both finished goalless.
Going by that sort of form, if I was a betting man, then I might have been tempted to go for a low scoring draw tonight.. But thankfully, I'm way too frugal for that kind of caper, or that Mr Ladbrokes bloke would've been 50p better off than he already is, following this closely contested encounter, which ended with Albion
leapfrogging over the Blades, into third place in the table... and although the home side are still in with a shout of a play off place at the very least; the words of their manager: Chris Wilder in his pre-match press statement about this being the sort of game that would indicate if United were 'contenders or pretenders' might have come back to bite him on his backside at full time, as his side have now chalked up just one win in their last five home games, despite the fact that they dominated the ball in the attacking third for the majority of the first half, playing some aesthetically pleasing high tempo football along the way. But time after time, the final ball was lacking.
The game had unfolded at a frantic pace, and though it made for an exciting spectacle, maybe that is what was ultimately the Blades undoing, as West Brom dug in deep, absorbed a lot of pressure and took their time to unpick their hosts at their own pace and in their own good time, slowing things down to a more controlled pace and picking off their opponents in their own good time. Darren Moore's side have been adopting this methodical approach to good effect for most of the season, giving the impression that they have been growing into games as time progresses, when they have actually been applying a disciplined and un-flustered blueprint to proceedings from the very first whistle.
Calming the pace of the game down, waiting for a lull in the other side's tempo and then pouncing to seize the moment, is something that the Baggies have been turning into an art-form this season, as they go about their business in a seemingly un-fussed yet very well drilled manner. You don't see Moore's side panicking and committing too many men forward after they go a goal behind and leaving themselves vulnerable at the back. Maybe that is something that Albion manager became acutely aware of when he played as a centre half back in the day, where he was actually a teammate of his opposite number today: Chris Wilder, when they both turned out in the colours of Bradford City.
Prior to kick off, the visitors were the highest scorers in the Championship this season, but they had also only kept one clean sheet in their previous twenty one league games this term, but apart from the one occasion this afternoon; when Chris Basham took the ball from Harvey Barnes and played it into the path of David McGoldrick, who powered forward into the right hand side of the visitors area, with Craig Dawson breathing down his neck, before shooting across Sam Johnstone and finding the Albion net via the inside of the left hand upright; the visitors had looked solid in defence, forcing the Blades to retain the ball and try to breach them again on numerous occasions, instead of giving them a direct route to goal.
To this end, West Brom were (and have been all season) playing just as effectively whether they were actually in possession or not. And though there might have been times when such a mentally strong approach might not look very pretty to any 'tippy, tappy football' purists looking on, it is evidently a very effective strategy that is giving Albion a big psychological edge over opposition sides who let their application slip when frustration kicks in from seeing numerous forward moves break down and amount to nothing.
Just before half time, McGoldrick almost doubled the Blades lead, but as Albion defended a corner set piece, they countered quickly, pouncing on a momentary lapse by Ollie Norwood and punished the home side ruthlessly, as United's defence were dragged all over the place, as Barnes saw off Basham before cutting the ball back across the area, where it evaded numerous bodies before sitting up nicely for Gareth Barry whose well struck effort gave Dean Henderson no chance of preventing an equalising goal.
Until that moment, Basham had been a rock for Wilder's team, George Baldock and Jack O'Connell had both broken up several Albion moves before they even got started and Henderson had looked comfortable when coming out to collect the ball and effective with his distribution. However as half time approached, West Brom were getting into their hosts faces in numbers, forcing several errors and almost nicked the lead when Phillips tested Henderson from a tight angle.
HT: Blades 1 v Baggies 1
West Brom were pressing higher up the pitch after the restart and where annoyed when the referee, Jeremy Simpson saw no wrong in a challenge by O'Connell, which allowed the Blades to break forward swiftly, with McGoldrick showing good strikers instincts to get between Dawson and the visitors goal again, before demonstrating his sides Achilles heel of late, by failing to find the net.
Albion almost took the lead just after the hour when John Egan completely misjudged a bouncing ball inside his area and handled it instead of making a routine clearance; the referee played the advantage and Barnes was thwarted by Henderson.
Barnes was becoming a real thorn in the Blades side and he took a defender with him as he skipped towards United's goal, before laying the ball off to Jay Rodriguez, who should have done better with a great opportunity.
Albion were asserting a tightening grip on the game, at a steady pace, but never overstretching themselves, or giving the Blades much space to manoeuvre, when Matt Phillips delivered the ball into the area, behind Barnes and he back-heeled it towards Kieran Gibbs, who clipped the ball into the bottom left hand corner of Henderson's net, in front of a travelling support of 1,000 plus Baggies
fans, whose presence was now beingheard more and more, as their victory songs echoed around a rapidly emptying Bramall Lane, with around ten minutes left to play. From a position of apparent strength, the Blades were now chasing the game and trying to salvage a draw, but though Billy Sharp went close shooting over the bar from Baldock's delivery, West Brom were't going to let the home side get back into it now and they saw the game out, to claim all three points with what had been a thoroughly professional performance, orchestrated for long spells by the visitors seasoned campaigner Gareth Barry.
 |
| Photo 'borrowed' from BBC website |
Maybe if Sheffield United had such a steadying influence in the middle of the park, calming some of their impulses down a touch, along with addressing the obvious need for a more prolific and ruthless striker (not that McGoldrick isn't without his plus points) then maybe they too to aspire to be the 'contenders' that Chris Wilder so passionately wants them to be.
United legend Keith Edwards, of all people, said exactly the same thing, on the local BBC radio station after the game too, but alas, goal-poachers (goal-hanger?) like him are few are far between in the ever 'evolving' modern game.
oo
The Blades, at times, are a real pleasure to watch, when they're moving forward with a high tempo passing game, but there comes a point when finger-blasting your prey just isn't enough any more and you need to give them a full on shafting instead. Without wanting to go completely Freudian on you, they flopped after the break after failing to turn their rampant intentions into more goals before it and were out fought and out fought, by an Albion side who look better endowed to make a real fist of finishing in one of the promotion spots.
FT: Sheffield United 1 v West Bromwich Albion 2
I heard say that the home side deserved to win this game, because of their first half dominance, but, at the risk of upsetting the hordes of Blades fans that I know, I would actually counter that by saying, West Brom actually deserved to win, for applying themselves and remaining focused for the entire game and patiently waiting for a few moments to clinically exploit.
After the game, the Albion manager said he couldn't quite put his finger on the extra ingredient that makes his team tick. He's either being very modest, or that's pure kidology, because Darren Moore knows exactly what he and his team are doing and is proving to be a very astute managerial appointment by the Black Country club.
oo
