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Chieo Ogbene came off the bench to score his first Sheffield United goal as the Blades came from behind to beat Oxford United at Bramall Lane tonight. This was the Blades’ game in hand after the initial clash with the U’s in early January was frozen off.
And they made it count with three points that lifts them up to 15th and to within eight points of sixth-placed Wrexham, with 48 still to play for this season.
United went behind early on when Michael Cooper fumbled a Cameron Brannagan shot and Myles Peart-Harris took advantage to tap home, and that allowed the visitors to sit in and frustrate the Blades even further.
Their plan worked until five minutes before the break, when Sydie Peck finished off a good move involving Oliver Arblaster and Harrison Burrows, before the in-form Andre Brooks continued his red-hot form with a third in as many games to put them ahead.
Ogbene then came off the bench to put the gloss on victory after a ridiculous pass from Gus Hamer sent him free, and United were left to reflect on a job well done at a freezing cold Bramall Lane. Here’s how we rated them on the night...
9. Sydie Peck 7
Urged to shoot early on after Cummins came out of his goal and headed clear but the Oxford stopper recovered in time to prevent the long-range effort from around the halfway line. But he eventually did get on the scoresheet to drag the Blades level five minutes before the break, a calm finish into the far corner after being picked out nicely by Burrows | UGC Photo: UGC
10. Gus Hamer 7
For much of the first half you had the feeling that United needed a spark from somewhere to get them going and if it was going to come from anywhere it was probably Hamer, with one effort whistling just wide of the post and then another clipping the crossbar after Hamer cut inside from the left and curled one beautifully past the dive of Cumming. He just kept going for the side and set up the game-sealing third for Ogbene with a ridiculous pass before making way for Chong | UGC Photo: UGC
11. Callum O'Hare 5
One of those nights from the United No.10's perspective where nothing seemed to go quite right, no matter how much he tried. Replaced just after an hour by Campbell | UGC Photo: UGC
12. Tom Cannon 6
The striker put in a real shift for the team at Millwall on Saturday but this was a different type of game and he couldn't seem to get into it for the most part, having just six touches in the first half and left chasing shadows somewhat. The early away goal didn't help him, allowing Oxford to sit a little deeper and deny him the space in behind he craves while cutting off passing angles, but to be fair he kept plugging away and then did well to fashion some space down the right channel before picking out Brooks to put the Blades ahead | UGC Photo: UGC