Seeking to move away from the bottom of the Premier League table with a second consecutive win following their victory against Luton Town last time out, Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United welcomed Brighton & Hove Albion to Bramall Lane on Sunday.
SHU: Foderingham; Robinson, Ahmedhodzic, Holgate; Larouci, Osborn, Souza, Hamer, Bogle; McAtee; Osula
BHA: Verbruggen; Lamptey, Dunk, van Hecke, Webster; Gilmour, Groß; Mitoma, Buonanotte, Adingra; Welbeck
Any hopes Sheffield United had of registering consecutive Premier League victories for the first time this season were quickly dashed by a moment of recklessness from Mason Holgate, after the defender was dismissed less than fifteen minutes into Sunday’s clash.
Having caught Kaoru Mitoma just below the knee with an agonising – and dreadfully mistimed – challenge, the Blades’ star saw his initial yellow card quickly upgraded to a straight red following intervention from VAR.
Embed from Getty ImagesBrighton didn’t take long at all to capitalise on their newfound advantage, with Facundo Buonanotte opening the scoring in the 20th minute as he steered home from Lewis Dunk’s header across the face of goal following a corner.
The floodgates had seemingly opened at Bramall Lane, and Danny Welbeck was the next Seagulls representative to get in on the goalscoring action – smashing home the rebound after Mitoma’s initial strike had been parried away well by Wes Foderingham.
Against the run of play, it looked as though the Blades had found a way to halve the deficit when Ben Osborn found the back of the net just minutes before the break. His joy would be short-lived though, with VAR finding that an offside offence had been committed.
The start of the second half was comparatively lacking goalmouth action, though Brighton were able to extend their lead with fifteen minutes of regulation time remaining as Jack Robinson bundled the ball into his own net from a Mitoma cross into the area.
Embed from Getty ImagesSimon Adingra would then join the rout, volleying home from a Pascal Groß delivery before completing his brace seven minutes later with a deflected shot following Ansu Fati’s blocked strike.
Sheffield United remain rooted to the foot of the Premier League table – and now find themselves seven points short of safety. They travel to Molineux next weekend, while Brighton host Everton after leapfrogging Newcastle United and West Ham to claim 7th spot in the standings.
