Sheffield United: Starboy Iliman Ndiaye lights up drab derby for happy World Cup homecoming

Collecting the ball in space down the right, a clever turn took him away from his man and drew the type of cynical foul the Senegalese starboy will have to grow increasingly accustomed to as his rapid ascension continues.

The cold and rain swirling around Bramall Lane at kick-off will have left Qatar feeling like a million miles away but Ndiaye showed few signs of a man struggling to acclimatise, enjoying a good opening from Ben Osborn's pull-back within the opening minutes which was deflected wide.

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After three games at the World Cup, Ndiaye will have backed himself to impress against a defence with no match action for almost a month and it showed when another moment of magic created the game's opening goal. Ndiaye's strength and skill was too much for Tom Lees and Jack Rudoni, who clattered into each other trying to stop him and Ndiaye's pass sent Billy Sharp clear to chip home delightfully.

His influence then began to wane a little as the game lulled, before being sparked into life again by United's No.29 on the stroke of half-time when another mazy run, beating three or four defenders after turning Michael Helik like he was back playing football on the streets of Rouen. Had he managed to apply a finish at the end, it would probably have rivalled Tony Currie's 'quality goal from a quality player' all those years ago. In the end, he ran out of steam and direction and the promising opening went begging, but the round of applause that followed signalled how United's fans saw both the confidence and the ability to even attempt it. And the talented young man who tried to make it happen.

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The only thing missing to crown Ndiaye's happy homecoming, from a fan perspective anyway, was a goal, with one second-half effort testing Nicholls only a little after a couple of stepovers and a shimmy to the left opened up the space to curl an effort goalwards. His race was run 10 minutes before the end, making way, along with Sharp, to a standing ovation for Oli McBurnie and Reda Khadra, and boss Paul Heckingbottom said: "I thought he was fantastic with the ball. I can't wait to get hold of him without the ball. You can tell he's been away for a while [from a tactical perspective]. I'm not saying he didn't work hard. He worked his socks off.

"[Coming back from the World Cup] was not ideal preparation but I was desperate for him to be back. As I said in the week, I was delighted when England were 2-0 up at half-time and he came off.

"To have one of your better forwards back and one of your top scorers, it was important for us to get him back on the pitch."

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