Sheffield United 2-1 Sunderland: FLW report as Blades hold off 10-man Sunderland

Sheffield United overcame 10-man Sunderland this evening, winning 2-1 under the Bramall Lane floodlights. 

Paul Heckingbottom’s side were made to work hard for the points, despite playing around an hour with a man advantage following Dan Neil’s first-half red card.

Sunderland had been bright from the first minute, cheered on by a vocal following form the North East. They started on the front-foot, going toe-to-toe with a side that don’t give much away at Bramall Lane, making that red card a touch harder to take.

Alex Neil’s side were inches away from getting Ross Stewart into goalscoring positions early on, with the towering striker also pulling a shot wide of Wes Foderingham’s right-hand post.

The threat from Sheffield United was quite flat in comparison to that. Rhian Brewster had shots on and off target, whilst Oliver Norwood drove the ball into the head of the brave Luke O’Nien.

The real turning point came shortly after the half-hour as the busy, yet classy, James McAtee put Neil under pressure, winning the ball off the Sunderland midfielder and looking to race through on goal. His response was to pull the Man City loanee back and earn himself a red card.

Two phases of play later and Anel Ahmedhodzic was heading Sheffield United into the lead from a Norwood corner – his first goal in the red and white.

Goals change games and combining that with a man advantage was always likely to give Paul Heckingbottom’s side the invitation they needed on home soil.

Liquid football followed the break, with Ahmedhodzic at the centre of that, combining with Norwood and Sander Berge to break into the box, crossing for Max Lowe to open his own Sheffield United account with a simple finish.

Neil’s reaction to that was a triple change,