Berge underwhelms, McBurnie 7/10: Sheffield United player ratings following 1-1 draw v Birmingham City | OneFootball

Sheffield United were held to a 1-1 draw by Birmingham City at Bramall Lane this afternoon.

Oli McBurnie fired Paul Heckingbottom’s side into a 64th minute lead with his fifth goal in six games.

However, the Blades conceded an equaliser just six minutes later as Troy Deeney found himself unmarked in the six yard box to finish beyond Wes Foderingham.

Heckingbottom’s men remain top of the Championship table despite dropping their first points of the season at Bramall Lane.

Here’s how we rated the Sheffield United players:

Wes Foderingham – 6: Good handling throughout and could do little to deny Deeney from close range. Didn’t have much to do in terms of saves.

George Baldock – 7: Good recovering run early on and important intervention to pinch ball off Deeney as half-time approached. Supported the attack well with plenty of energy.

Chris Basham – 6: Got forward well in the first-half but got caught out a couple of times defensively, including leaving Deeney completely unmarked for the equaliser. Still very steady, as you’ve come to expect.

John Egan – 6: Played in his usual manner in and out of possession but couldn’t react quickly enough to Basham’s error for the goal, which will disappoint him.

Rhys Norrington-Davies – 7: Huge first-half block denied Tahith Chong opening the scoring and got through his work without fuss. His pace an asset.

Reda Khadra – 5: Lively early on at left wing-back. Caught out once or twice, which is natural out of position. Lasted just over an hour.

Tommy Doyle – 6: Knitted play together nicely on the left edge of midfield early on and got through some decent work. Hit the bar with a free-kick and was replaced just after the hour.

Sander Berge – 5: Found his usual pockets of space on the right but wasn’t quite at his best despite teeing up late Sharp chance. That maybe reflected the side’s overall performance.

Iliman Ndiaye – 6: Incredible close control and glides across the pitch magnificently in possession. Not afraid to do defensive work either but couldn’t quite get it right in the final third today.

Oli McBurnie – 7: Couple of first-half headers and got right amongst it after half-time, opening the scoring with a fierce strike. A man in form with five goals in six games now.

Subs

Jayden Bogle – 5: Minutes will have done him good, even if they were out of position at left wing-back. Teed up a half-chance for Brewster late on.

Rhian Brewster – 5: Off-target with a chance late in the game but otherwise struggled to have much of an impact.

Billy Sharp – 6: Couple of nice touches and pulled defenders into the channel like he does. Got his chance and surprisingly failed to take it as John Ruddy denied him.

James McAtee – n/a: On late for Ndiaye.

Quiz: Have any of these 20 current or ex-Sheffield United players ever played for a German club?

1 of 20

Reda Khadra

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