Harry Souttar left frustrated on night of VAR drama as Sheffield United man keeps up club clean-sheet record

Harry Souttar endured an evening of “frustration” on international duty as Australia dodged a bullet late on in their World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia. The Sheffield United defender jetted off Down Under soon after Sunday’s Steel City derby win over Wednesday to join up with his international teammates as they look to advance their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

But they almost took another hit when the Saudis looked what looked like the winner in the 93rd minute, Sultan Al-Ghannam finding the net from long range. But an offside flag cut short the celebrations and after a VAR call, teammate Ali Al-Bulayhi was deemed to have interfered with Socceroos goalkeeper Joe Gauci from an offside position.

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There was even time for more drama as Riley McGree saw an overhead kick fly just wide of goal in the 97th minute but the game ended goalless, putting extra pressure on Souttar and Co. to get a result when they travel to Bahrain next week. The result at least kept Souttar’s recent run of clean sheets going, the Leicester loanee in stunning form for the Blades, but he admitted: “It’s just one of real frustration.

“We had a lot of chances, myself included in the first half where I’ve got to score, and nicking the ball off their press which we worked on because we know they like to take some risks. We rode our luck at times, the last five or 10 minutes was a bit manic with their offside goal and Riley’s overhead kick which I thought was going in. But it’s one of frustration but a clean sheet to build on and another point on the board, I guess.”

On his side’s lack of goals, the defender added: “I don’t think it’s a concern, it’s one we’re trying to get better at. It’s the hardest thing to do, putting the ball in the back of the net. I know how hard they work to create chances, it’s just that final detail that sometimes goes for you and sometimes doesn’t. We’ve created a few chances in the last couple of games and not put them away and that’s something we’ll need to improve going forward.”

Meanwhile, Souttar’s United teammate Jesurun Rak-Sakyi has been called up to the England U21 squad for their upcoming trips to Spain and the Netherlands.