Sheffield United v Queens Park Rangers: Oliver Norwood's goal bags a big win for The Blades
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But they remain in the race after beating Queens Park Rangers thanks to a performance which, despite being far from perfect, was convincing enough to suggest the centre-half might have been indulging in a little kidology when he made his assessment ahead of kick-off.
An early goal from Oliver Norwood proved enough to lift Paul Heckingbottom’s side to fifth in the table with six matches remaining. The fact Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest, ranked sixth and eighth respectively, both enjoy games in hand ensures United still have work to do before making sure of their place.
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Hide AdBut after slipping to a fourth consecutive defeat, the visitors’ hopes of reaching the Premier League could be over for another season.
“That’s a fantastic win,” Bramall Lane’s public address announcer reminded the crowd as United celebrated at the end. Given the miniscule margins for error at the top end of the division, and coming three days after a disappointing loss to Stoke City, it was a damn important one too.
Like all good sporting contests, this one also possessed some ‘edge’. And not simply because Keiren Westwood, the former Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper, started for the visitors. Towards the end of last month, as he sifted through a casualty list which could have been plucked from the props office of Holby City, Heckingbottom traced the fitness issues which continue to affect his already injury hit squad back to the number of postponements United suffered during the winter wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. One of those clubs United’s manager accused of failing to take the proper precautions, although he didn’t reference them by name, was last night’s visitors.
Heckingbottom had also been quizzed on his team’s short-comings at set-pieces during the recent international break. Not in and around their own box, where United have now kept nine clean sheets during an 11 match unbeaten run at home. Rather it was at the other end of the pitch where the 44-year-old’s team have underperformed of late. It took them less than 10 minutes to address that particular failing, thanks to a perfectly executed training ground routine and a slice of good fortune; Norwood’s shot taking a couple of deflections as, following George Baldock’s step-over from John Fleck’s corner, it flew past Westwood.
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Hide AdRangers, in fairness, have selection problems of their own with former Arsenal and Benfica winger Chris Willock arguably their biggest miss. But the Londoners were still able to call upon the likes of Albert Adomah, Jeff Hendrick and Andre Gray. So Mark Warburton, hands clasped behind his back as he paced nervously around the technical area, will have been disappointed with Rangers’ failure to test a United defence containing debutant Filip Uremovic until the closing stages; Rob Dickie glancing wide in added time.
Before then, Oli McBurnie had been inches away from sending Morgan Gibbs-White clean through on goal before the striker, deputising for injured skipper Billy Sharp, tested Westwood’s handling with a header.
Lolloping forward in his trademark languid fashion, Sander Berge also saw an effort blocked when Rangers’ defence decided to track McBurnie and Gibbs-White rather than impede the Norwegian’s run.
Gibbs-White also dragged inches wide towards the end, before Dickie went close.