Sheffield United show both sides to seal derby double as Chris Wilder makes honest Sheffield Wednesday admission
Sheffield United show both sides to seal derby double as Chris Wilder makes honest Sheffield Wednesday admission
Chris Wilder was proud of the way his Sheffield United players “got the job done” against their bitter rivals Wednesday this afternoon at Bramall Lane, insisting his side “had everything to lose.” The Blades saw off a shift in mood in the second half to run out 2-1 winners and secure a rare double-double.
They were absolutely cruising at half-time after going 2-0 up but in the space of four second-half minutes United went down to 10 men when Kalvin Phillips was sent off, and Wednesday pulled one back through Charlie McNeill’s strike.
That was Wednesday’s first goal at Bramall Lane since 2011 and although it gave their supporters something to cheer and set up a slightly more tense finish than anyone expected at the break, the visitors couldn’t build on it.
If anything it was the Blades who could have finished comfortable winners, with Tyrese Campbell and Sydie Peck both seeing chances saved well by debutant goalkeeper Seny Dieng as they looked to put the game beyond doubt after Patrick Bamford and Harrison Burrows put them in cruise control.
“Glad to get the job done, really,” admitted Wilder afterwards. “The team showed different qualities as well, especially after the sending off. We wanted that big start that we've had this season, against Stoke, Leicester, Ipswich, Birmingham and even Middlesbrough.
“The two goals, really well constructed, good qualities in terms of goals, in terms of getting the ball back straight away, not allowing them to breathe. And then great finishes, Gus's ball to Pat, finish and then Harrison’s goal as well.
Sheffield United show both sides to seal derby double as Chris Wilder makes honest Sheffield Wednesday admission
“I was a little bit disappointed, and I talked about it at half-time. The team is the star of the show. I just thought we took an extra touch and it was a little bit of ‘the game was done,’ which it wasn’t.
“I talked to them about the eventualities of what can happen if they were loose. Through my experience, more than 1,000 games, I knew that this game wasn’t done. We had to make sure that we were on it, like the first 20, 25 minutes when we were opening them up pretty comfortably and had good control of the game.
“We just needed to keep doing the right things and then the sending off, and the goal straight away, changed the atmosphere of the game. And then we had to dig in a little bit. That gave them a lift, gave them some energy, gave their supporters a load of energy without really, apart from a couple of forays down the left, troubling us off the back of that.”
United are a team that have showed recently they are not afraid of mixing it physically when they have to, though, and they responded well to the bit of Wednesday pressure with goalkeeper Michael Cooper barely involved after that McNeill goal which gave Wednesday a little bit of hope.
“We had everything to lose today,” Wilder added. “Everything to lose. They had the puncher’s chance, as we knew. We couldn't shortcut it, which we didn't. We didn't take liberties right through the game.
“I'd never do that to any team or to any manager. But we did a lot of things right today and different qualities. The only thing that we didn't do, is when it went down to 10 versus 10 [after Gabriel Otegbayo’s late second yellow].
“Really, we had three or four golden opportunities to [comfortably] win a Sheffield derby. Not to put the Boxing Day nonsense to bed or any stuff like that. And that was my criticism because we had some fabulous opportunities to score and make it a lot more comfortable than what it really felt like.”