Ramsdale, Fleck and the defending: Heroes and Villains from Sheffield United’s defeat at Man City

Sheffield United came back from The Etihad with no points but a lot of pride after a spirited display in their 1-0 defeat to title favourites Manchester City yesterday.

Gabriel Jesus put City ahead inside the first 10 minutes, but Chris Wilder’s United held firm and could have snatched a late equaliser when John Fleck’s volley flew narrowly wide of Ederson’s left hand post.

Our man Danny Hall offers up his heroes and villains from the City clash.

Aaron Ramsdale

The goalkeeper looked a confident man at Old Trafford in midweek as he came to claim a couple of late crosses under pressure, and he was assured again here.

Left exposed again by his defenders for City’s winner, Ramsdale made a good save to deny Zinchenko’s well-struck shot and then saved the best until last when he palmed Jesus’s shot around his post in time added on.

Some fans feared that Man U and Man City may have racked up the goals against the Blades, damaging Ramsdale’s frail confidence possibly beyond repair.

But two goals against is a good return from those two games, which will hopefully do him the world of good for the remainder of the season and beyond.

The defending

Wilder said he was disappointed with the nature of the goal that City did score past Ramsdale, and it’s easy to see why.

First Ethan Ampadu seemed to get mixed up with Jayden Bogle as the ball came down the City right. Ampadu looked to take charge but couldn’t really do so, flicking the ball on.

Ferran Torres looked to be going nowhere, especially when he fell over the ball, but he was allowed to get back up, beat Bogle and then go past Ampadu before finding Jesus in the middle.

Chris Basham had squeezed up to try and anticipate a cutback, leaving the City striker all alone and with the time to correct his feet after initially making a bit of a meal of his effort.

In mitigation it was a tough ask for Bogle, playing out of position on the left in only his sixth Premier League game at the home of the champions-elect. But he struggled against Torres, and wasn’t really helped out by his colleague as Torres wriggled free.

But Bogle is still a very young man in relative Premier League terms, and has proved a very astute signing so far. He’ll learn from the difficult games more than the comfortable ones, and both player and United will be better for the experience in the long run.

John Fleck

The Scottish international again showed signs of getting back to his best. He was United’s best player in the first half, ghosting past his man and driving forward with the ball with an intensity his game has sometimes lacked this season.

A notoriously slow starter to seasons anyway, Fleck has been searching for a bit of form after suffering a back injury on international duty that seemed to be affecting him for a while after he returned.

But on the evidence of the last two games, and considering the calibre of opposition he has impressed against in Manchester, he is back with a bang - and it couldn’t be at a better time for the Blades as they look to get themselves out of trouble.

Tactics

There is no sure-fire way to combat Pep Guardiola’s City but every team that steps out at The Etihad will have one thought consistently ringing in their ears: Don’t concede early.

If City get their noses ahead early on, then anything could happen. They were 1-0 up recently against West Brom after six minutes and it was 4-0 at half time. Raheem Sterling added a fifth before the hour mark and City had the deckchairs out for the rest of the game.

How many Blades fans feared the same when Jesus scored inside 10 minutes yesterday?

But United played it perfectly. They remained resolute and solid, stayed in the game and knew that as long as the difference was a single goal, they had a chance.

The plan almost paid off to perfection when Fleck’s strike went inches wide of goal with about five minutes of normal time to go. It wasn’t to be, but if all the rubbish about Wilder ‘losing the dressing room’ was correct then United would have folded here after that early blow.

SPECIAL OFFER: By subscribing to The Star’s sports-only digital package you help us to continue providing the best coverage of Sheffield United. Until February 1 there’s 20% off a year’s subscription, taking you through what is expected to be a busy transfer window. All the details are HERE, just use the promo code TRANSFER20.