Sheffield United Match Report

[saintrich]

To be put on Saintsweb.co.uk site later...

 

Sheffield United Vs Southampton

 

Southampton came back from two heavy defeats, to come away from Bramall lane with a hard earned point.

 

Manager Jan Poortvliet gave starts to Rudi Skacel, Chris Perry, Simon Gillett, Stern John and Bradley Wright-Phillips, at the expense of Lloyd James, David McGoldrick and Paul Wotton, who dropped to the bench. Jordan Robertson and Ryan Smith missed out due to ineligibility and injury respectively, whereas Sheffield United were forced into one change from the side that lost the Sheffield derby match – Morgan coming in for the suspended Killgallon.

 

The home side started the match brightly and were thwarted twice in the opening stages. First Ex-Saints player James Beattie broke the offside trap, but saw his shot blocked by Mills, before David Coterill played a neat pass through to Stephen Quinn, who took the ball in his stride before firing a low shot towards the bottom corner, which Kelvin Davis did well to tip wide.

 

However from then on, Southampton took control of the game, forcing United to sit back with some decent build up play in midfield. First Andrew Surman swung in a free kick, which Ollie Lancashire headed straight at Paddy Kenny and Surman was architect in the middle of the park again, as his fine through ball found mills in space down the left flank, but the youngster’s cross was slid away by Chris Morgan.

 

The Saints were looking bright down the right hand side with the added pace of Wright-Phillips to the side and it was the makeshift winger who should have scored moments later. He picked the ball up and ran at Naysmith, before exchanging passes with Stern John in a neat 1-2 and shooting just over when well placed.

 

The away side continued to show off good passing in midfield, with some pleasing build up play and although Paddy Kenny watched Rudi Skacel’s ambitious long range shot fizz across goal, he was soon thanking his defence – as the half drew to a close...

 

The home side had a corner. Which they failed to make use of - headed away by Surman and picked up by Lallana, who’s vision in chipping across to Wright-Phillips allowed for a counter attack move, as he went on a jinking run. Unfortunately the natural striker saw his curling effort blocked by Morgan.

 

Half time: Sheffield United 0-0 Southampton

 

The second half was a much more open affair, with both teams having chances, in what was end to end stuff and it was the home side who almost took the lead, when Beattie rose high to head firmly towards goal, but saw his effort saved on the line.

 

Saints threatened when Wright-Phillips broke through the middle and found Joseph Mills who bombed forward and forced Paddy Kenny into a decent save at his near post, before United started to push harder for an opening goal and were aided by their supports who picked up in voice and they almost had something to cheer about, when Lancashire brought down Quinn and the ball fell nicely to debutant Anthony Stokes, who ran past Cork and found the net with a low shot, albeit the side of the net!

 

Chances continued to come for both side and away fans would have been equally disappointed when Stern John out jumped Ugo Ehiogu, to head Surman’s corner just over.

The term ‘end to end’ was certainly applicable in this game and when James Beattie mugged Simon Gillett in midfield, he certainly would have been disappointed with his shot, which was too close to Kelvin Davis, who smothered with ease.

 

Teammates and fans alike were to be disappointed minutes later, when a low cross wasn’t dealt with and Anthony Stokes netted a debut goal from close range, only to be adjudged to have been offside by the referee’s assistant.

 

And if Davis’ preceding save from Beattie was considered an easy, the save which Paddy Kenny had to make moments later certainly wasn’t. McGoldrick’s cross rebounded to Wright-Phillips, who saw his powerful curling effort saved tremendously well by the keeper who saved at full stretch to his right.

 

This was followed by another good move, with Gillett crossing to John, who chested down well for Lallana to shoot low – again Kenny equal to it.

 

The home side started to push again, which meant for nervous times ahead as the Saints somehow prevented Sheffield United from scoring a goal – Danny Webber and Kyle Naughton providing lots of dangerous crosses into the box, with Perry, Lancashire and Davis having to be on guard for a pummelling.

 

Bradley Wright-Phillips used his effectiveness on the break, as Southampton escaped the period of onslaught and the forward crossed well for McGoldrick, whose header was woeful.

Sheffield United continued to search for a goal, as the match approached its finale and Naughton broke forward again from right back, choosing to cut in and shoot, but his 25 yard curler was fantastically saved by Davis – one for the cameras!

 

And Naughton was involved again soon after, when his attacking run ended in a fizzing drive across goal, which missed Beattie, but not Stokes, who again shot into the side netting.

 

While Southampton closed out the game for what would have been a well earned point, things ended slightly sour, when Ollie Lancashire received a second yellow card for a late foul on Howard.

 

Full Time: Sheffield United 0-0 Southampton

 

Summary

 

In my opinion coming away with a point and a clean sheet is a great result for us, considering the nature of defeat our two preceding games. This was different. Better. More commitment all over the pitch and no compromise in quality of passing as we have sometimes seen in hard working displays.

 

In defence I thought we looked decent enough and much more solid in the full back positions, with Cork and Skacel occupying the slots, which had previously been filled by Mills and James. At the heart of defence Perry was very commanding and dealt well with the physical presence of Beattie, whilst Lancashire was often on hand to deal with dangerous crosses as the home side – as expected pushed us very hard. Although it was a shame to see Lancashire sent off, as he had played well. Davis in goal made some good saves, continuing his good form this season.

 

In midfield we passed around nicely in our build up play – Gillett, Surman, Lallana and Wright-Phillips always involved in passing moves and attacks, however I must admit not liking Mills being played left wing and if Skacel is now a preferred left back choice, I’d rather see Surman left flank, with Wotton or Schneiderlin slotting into Surman’s current defensive midfield role.

 

Up front it was nice to see John back and it was there for all to see that he possesses much better hold up and link up qualities than our other strikers. As for our best player, it’s hard to pick, as it was a good team effort.

 

Sheffield United offered plenty of attack in the second half, but weren’t consistent enough throughout the 90 minutes to merit the three points, so I think a point is a fair result. Quinn looked good on the left wing for them, a hard working player with an eye for goal too, not a bad a combination. However Ugo Ehiogu looked like a bit of a liability with his distribution, while Naughton at right back looks a fine prospect for the future.

 

All in all, a decent enough result and a hard working performance, but we must work harder in the final third for goals, as they seem hard to come by – switching to a 4-4-2 formation, with John and Wright-Phillips upfront would be my suggestion to overcome this –they linked up well tonight.

 

By Richard Miles.

 

 

 

Edited 22 October, 2008 by saintrich