Sheffield United hand manager perfect birthday gift

LONDON: Sheffield United gave their boss Chris Wilder the perfect 50th birthday present as they emphatically dismissed rivals Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 at Hillsborough.

Wilder, a lifelong Blade, reached his notable landmark on Saturday and it is a weekend he will remember forever as United won the first Steel City derby since 2012 in style.

They were 2-0 up inside 15 minutes through John Fleck and Leon Clarke before Wednesday rallied to level thanks to Gary Hooper and Lucas Joao.

But the Blades were not going to be denied a deserved three points and Mark Duffy’s fine effort and Clarke’s second – against his former club – gave the red half of Sheffield a first win at Hillsborough since 2006.

With the clock barely past the three-minute mark, Fleck curled a free-kick into the corner to give United the lead on Sunday.

Things got even better for the visitors 11 minutes later as Clarke beat the offside trap from Enda Stevens’ long ball and coolly slotting home.

Midway through the second half, Wednesday drew level.

Barry Bannan opened up United down the left, feeding Adam Reach, who played in Joao to slam home from 10 yards out.

Hillsborough was bouncing but the home joy was short-lived as less than two minutes later, United dramatically regained the lead.

Substitute Duffy wriggled free in the Wednesday box and silenced the home crowd with a fine finish into the far corner which beat Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood at his near post.

Then 10 minutes later Clarke wrapped up the points in a red and white bow for Wilder when he took advantage of some slack defending to lift the ball over Westwood.

The jubilant United fans serenaded their manager with a rendition of “Happy Birthday” and this would undoubtedly have been his best present. — The Sun, London