United rally for 3-2 comeback road win over Sheffield United
Reds win sixth straight EPL match after trailing
Table of Contents
Manchester United made history Thursday coming from behind to beat Sheffield United 3-2 at Bramall Lane.
Game Story
The match began as many of United’s road games have this season with the Reds starting slow.
Five minutes into the match and the Blades went in front.
Former Sheffield keeper Dean Henderson made a shocking error holding onto the ball too long in his six-yard box.
Oliver Burke blocked his pass as the ball landed perfectly to David McGoldrick who fired it home into the open goal.
On 18 minutes the Blades should’ve made it two-nil.
Chris Basham played a nice through ball to John Fleck on the edge of the area.
Fleck didn’t realize how much time he had and fired his effort wide.
United got back into the match just before the half-hour mark.
A nice long ball from Victor Lindelof split the Sheffield defence putting Marcus Rashford clean in on goal.
United’s striker made no mistake firing it past Aaron Ramsdale for the equaliser.
In the 32nd minute, the Reds almost went ahead.
Bruno Fernandes found Anthony Martial over the top but the Frenchman couldn’t control the pass and John Egan cut out the danger.
A minute later and Martial made up for that miss.
A beautiful ball by Paul Pogba found Martial.
United’s striker was initially denied by Ramsdale but Martial got his own rebound and fired it home.
A few minutes later Rashford nearly made it three-one.
Clean in on goal once again his strike from 15 yards out was well saved by Ramsdale with his left leg.
United picked up where they left off in the second half scoring a third early on.
Some great work by Pogba again to slip past a defender finding his fellow countryman Martial.
Martial played it through to Rashford whose strike fooled Ramsdale and found the back of the net.
Ramsdale did well on 66 minutes to keep Sheffield in the match.
Some great work by Mason Greenwood with some nice stepovers in the box unleashed a fierce strike that Ramsdale did well to parry away.
The Blades made it interesting in the 87th minute.
Fleck’s corner deflected off Lindelof to an unmarked McGoldrick who nodded home his second of the match to make it three-two.
The Blades nearly equalised in injury time.
Continuous pressure in the United area as a great close-range shot by Lys Mousset was saved brilliantly by Henderson and the Reds hung on.
Man of the Match
Marcus Rashford is one of the many United players who seems to relish playing away from home.
After going two games without a goal the Englishman found the net twice and could have had more.
All of Rashford’s goals and assists in the league have come on the road.
From Goat to Hero
Dean Henderson’s first Premier League start for the Reds was very much hit and miss.
His gaffe five minutes into the match definitely won’t endear him to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
It also won’t make his case to be number one over David de Gea very strong.
however, when the Reds needed him most he was there.
It’s been the theme of Henderson’s current spell at United.
Very little to do in most of his starts so far but coming up big in the clutch has been his forte.
He did it in the club’s win at Luton Town in the Carabao Cup and in their league cup match with Brighton.
Tonight, again with very little to do throughout the match his stop in injury time on Mousset allowed United to come away with three points.
In total Henderson saved four of the six shots he faced.
Doing it the Hard Way
This was United’s sixth straight win on the road in the Premier League while trailing which is a new league record.
It’s the team’s 10th straight win away from Old Trafford.
United is only the fourth side ever to win 10 road games in the Premier League and the first since Manchester City in 2017.
Moving on up
With the win, Man United jump into sixth place with 23 points, just a point off a Champions League place that’s currently held by Leicester City.
Sheffield United meanwhile remains at the bottom of the table with just one point.
Back of the Net
Finding the back of the net hasn’t been much of a problem for United this season.
They’ve scored at least a goal in all but three matches across all competitions in 2020-21.
Scoring against Sheffield United seems to come easily for the Reds regardless of who’s playing.
The last time United was held scoreless against the Blades in any competition goes back to 1972 when Sheffield United won 1-0.
United’s scored at least twice in their last 10 EPL fixtures which is a new league record.
Struggles at Home
Manchester United isn’t the only Premier League squad struggling at home.
Tonight’s defeat is Sheffield United’s seventh at Bramall Lane in eight Premier League fixtures.
It’s also the club’s fourth straight loss at home in league play.
The last time they lost that many consecutive games at Bramall Lane dates back to April of 1965.
Next Up
United has very little time to rest before their next match.
The Reds host Leeds United on Sunday from Old Trafford.
Gametime is 4:30 pm. (JSL).
