Sheffield United failed to build on a disciplined first-half showing at Chelsea as they lost 2-0 away at Chelsea yesterday at Stamford Bridge. The Blades frustrated their expensively-assembled opposition for almost an hour before goals from Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson condemned them to defeat.
Boss Chris Wilder bemoaned a "mad 15 minutes" in the second half which he believes played right into Chelsea's hands, as the Blades prepare for another tough away trip to Aston Villa next Friday. Here are six things we learned from United's defeat at Stamford Bridge...
1. 'Inexperience'
That, in a nutshell, was the big factor in United's defeat here, according to boss Chris Wilder. Of the starting XI only Jayden Bogle, Max Lowe and Oli McBurnie played a real part the last time United were in the Premier League, with the rest learning on the job in terms of what it takes to compete at this level. For almost an hour they did that before what the manager described as a "mad 15 minutes" in the second half when his side decided to chase the game, opening it up for Chelsea and making it the game they would have wanted. In the first half United were smart with their press, picking their moments to be aggressive and jump on Chelsea and otherwise letting them have the ball in non-threatening areas. But in the second half they couldn't keep that same discipline and as Wilder said, when the likes of Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer are running at you then it spells trouble...
2. "The second kills us"
The first Chelsea goal seemed to sap some belief from United's players but the second soon after all but killed the game as a contest and the big frustration is that it was pretty avoidable, rather than Chelsea's mega-money stars carving United open. Auston Trusty slipped, Anel Ahmedhodzic couldn't win the header and then Wes Foderingham spilled the loose ball, allowing the cross for Nicolas Jackson to tap home. Wilder appeared reluctant to criticise Foderingham afterwards, saying the goalkeeper has been excellent for him since he returned, and he did make two good stops from Jackson and Sterling as they raced through one-on-one. But Wilder did add that the second goal "killed" United and it was another reminder that they are already up against it in this league without helping out other teams with individual errors.
3. Tidying up
While United gave up possession to Chelsea in the first half they did have some moments themselves, with Jayden Bogle flashing an excellent cross across the face of goal and Cameron Archer almost lighting up Stamford Bridge with a curling effort that looked to be heading close to the top corner before sailing wide. The frustration for United was that they were not tidier on the ball when they did have it - they were limited to 20 per cent possession in the first half and when they did have the ball they often couldn't keep it for long enough to really establish a foothold in the game, with moves often breaking down via a misplaced pass or a bad touch rather than any spectacular defending from Chelsea.
4. Carbon copies
The mistakes aside, there was a definite theme with both Chelsea's goals and it almost became three but Armando Broja somehow blazed over from a few yards out after another cut-back cross from the Chelsea right. For all Chelsea's talent and possession it was two goals from a combined distance of about 10 yards out that did for United, with Palmer and Jackson and Broja in perfect positions to tap home. When United got in a similar position, with Bogle breaking free down the right, three United forwards were in similar positions and none made the run to meet the cross, which would have resulted in a tap in and given them something to cling on to for the rest of the game