West Bromwich Albion 2-2 Sheffield United: Blades Secure Point To Go Top Of The League | OneFootball

Sheffield United earned a valuable point in a 2-2 draw against West Bromwich Albion to send them back to the top of the Championship.

The Blades had to come from behind when Torbjorn Heggem steered the home side ahead on 25 minutes from a corner. Two quick goals from United saw the momentum shift before half-time thanks to Callum O’Hare and Tyrese Campbell.

With the rain blasting down in the second half, it did not hurt the game’s flow as both sides flooded bodies forward. West Brom struck level in the 62nd minute via a deflected Tom Fellows attempt.

Chris Wilder made one change to the starting eleven; Alfie Gilchrist slotted in at centre-back to cover for the suspended Harry Souttar. Femi Seriki was welcomed back to the side at right-back. Rhian Brewster was named in the matchday squad for the first time since the game at Blackburn Rovers.

Callum O’Hare equalises for the Blades during West Bromwich Albion vs Sheffield United at the Hawthorns. (Image Credit: Sheffield United Football Club).

Lineups

West Brom: Palmer, Furlong, Styles (Holgate 82), Bartley, Molumby, Maja (Swift 86), Heggem, Grant, Johnston (Cole 86), Mowatt (Racic 73), Fellows.

Unused: Wildsmith, Wallace, Diakite, Dobbin, Frabotta.

Blades: Cooper, Gilchrist, Hamer, O’Hare (Norrington-Davies 86), Rak-Sakyi (Brewster 75), Burrows, Robinson, Souza, Campbell (Oné 57), Seriki (Shackleton 86), Peck.

Unused: A. Davies, McCallum, T. Davies, Baptiste, Brooks.

First Half

West Bromwich Albion shot out of the blocks and instantly piled the pressure on a lethargic-looking Blades. A number of crosses and long throw-ins bombarded United’s penalty area and the away side needed Peck to block Furlong’s volley from a corner. There was yet more danger when Styles delivered in a teasing cross from the left which somehow evaded everybody, including Karlan Grant.

With constant pressure from the home side, it came as no surprise when they took the lead through left-sided centre-back Torbjorn Heggem, in the 24th minute, following a superb corner delivery from Alex Mowatt.

The Blades woke up once they went a goal down and their attacking players got more involved, and they flirted with a penalty as Rak-Sakyi played a one-two with O’Hare, but upon receiving the return pass, Rak-Sakyi tried to initiate contact with the full-back who wasn’t fooled. As a result, the referee penalised Rak-Sakyi for diving and booked him.

United equalled the score when Callum O’Hare played the ball out to the left to Harrison Burrows, who then drilled a perfect low cross into the box, and after a couple of deflections O’Hare was on hand to finish the move off to make it 1-1.

A few minutes later, Burrows was the source for the second goal as his cross from the left flank set up Tyrese Campbell in the middle of the six-yard box.

Just before half-time, Hamer, dribbling with the ball up on the left, pulled the ball back to Peck on the edge of the box whose dipping effort couldn’t dip quite enough.

Second Half

Sheffield United had a chance to extend their lead to two a few minutes into the second half when Rak-Sakyi’s flicked header at the near post sailed wide of the far post.

Campbell had a half chance to add another to his name, but his powerful shot was tipped wide by the West Brom stopper in the 53rd minute. Four or five minutes later, the forward would be forced off with an injury which saw Ryan Oné take his place.

Despite the Blades having the better chances in the second half, it was the home side who scored the only goal of the half, in what was rather fortuitous as Tom Fellows’ shot took a huge deflection, causing the ball to spin to the far post and over Michael Cooper’s head and into the net.

Chris Wilder freshened up the attack with 20 minutes to go; Rhian Brewster made his first appearance since early November as he replaced Jesurun Rak-Sakyi. Brewster’s only notable contribution was when he smashed an effort from distance straight into the hands of goalkeeper Alex Palmer.

West Brom were finishing strong, so the Blades switched to a more defensive formation in the final ten minutes, Rhys Norrington-Davies and Jamie Shackleton replaced Callum O’Hare and Femi Seriki, and United were able to hold onto a point which saw them move back to the top of the Championship.