Sheffield United 0-1 Cardiff City: Blades Bow Out of FA Cup | OneFootball

Sheffield United bowed out of the FA Cup after suffering a 1-0 defeat at home to Cardiff City in the third-round.

The Bluebirds scored the only goal of the game in the first half through youngster Cian Ashford, who calmly slotted the ball beneath the onrushing Adam Davies.

Both sides made a plethora of changes for this FA Cup tie, just like both managers said they would pre-game. Just four players remained in the starting XI from Saturday’s win over Watford, those were: Alfie Gilchrist, Harrison Burrows, Andre Brooks and Ryan Oné.

Lineups

Blades: A. Davies, Gilchrist (Colechin 89), McCallum, Brewster, Burrows, Baptiste, Norrington-Davies (Robinson 59), Marsh (Hampson 81), Brooks, Oné, Blacker.

Subs: Faxon, Hamer, O’Hare, Ahmedhodzic, Boyes, Aston.

Cardiff: Horvath, Fish, Daland, Ralls, Etete (Pearce 46), Bagan, Colwill (Robertson 63), Tanner, Ng (Rinomhota 76), Kpakio (T.Davies 46), Ashford (Siopis 76).

Subs: Tuner, Willock, Giles, Jefferies.

First Half

The visitors started the brightest and controlled possession, as expected given their experience advantage in midfield over the Blades. Kion Etete found himself in some brilliant areas to score a couple of goals inside the first 12 minutes, but he failed to hit the target with both attempts.

Despite squandering two great chances early in the match, Cardiff City kept pressing forward and got their reward with an opening goal through Cian Ashford in the 19th minute. The youngster stole the ball off Norrington-Davies, who dallied on the ball just inside his own half, and then the 20-year-old drove into the penalty area and slotted the ball past Adam Davies.

That goal seemed to wake Sheffield United up, particularly Marsh who registered two shots on target in quick succession. The first one was a header from an accurate but hopeless clipped cross from Gilchrist, meaning Marsh not only had to move backwards to get it, but he also had to generate all the power on the header at the same time. The second shot saw the Cardiff goalkeeper pluck the ball which was heading towards the top left corner from a close range effort.

Then United had a corner from the right, which Burrows took. The makeshift central midfielder whipped in the corner right on the goalline, and as the ball was cleared out, Brewster instincts swung his foot at it but he was off balance and leaning back.

The final key bits of action from the half came from United. Brewster smashed a low swerving effort down the centre of goal from around 30 yards out. And then from a short corner routine, Brooks laid the ball off to Marsh on the edge of the box whose placed effort towards the bottom right corner was dealt with by the keeper.

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – JANUARY 09: Ethan Horvath of Cardiff City clears the ball during the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Sheffield United and Cardiff City at Bramall Lane on January 09, 2025 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty

Second Half

With some stern words said at half-time, the Blades upped the tempo at the start of the second half, stringing passes together in the final third as Oné and Brewster both tested Horvath down low to either corner around the hour mark.

At the other end, Ashford was causing problems once more. He almost scored a second goal as his powerful 20-yard shot was pushed away by Davies down to the left-hand corner with 15 or so minutes to go.

Sheffield United pushed bodies forward in search of an equaliser but it was the away side who looked more threatening, and the captain of the evening, Ralls, was inches away from making it 2-0 as his curling left-footed effort towards the bottom left corner grazed the side netting.

But, the Blades were not done yet, and they almost found an absolute beauty of an equaliser when Burrows cut inside from the left and his bending right-footed strike crashed against the far post with only a couple of minutes to spare.