TWO-GOAL EVANS STUNS PULIS
HAULED off on Saturday after his worst performance in a Sheffield United shirt, hailed on Tuesday for two sublime first-half volleys. It has been a huge turnaround for Lee Evans, who reacted to his substitution in the 3-2 defeat at Barnsley with his first goals for the club he joined in January. The first was a thunderous long-range bullet, the second a beautifully-placed low effort from the edge of the area. Evans’s first-half strikes bookended an incidentpacked 45 minutes which also saw Boro skipper Grant Leadbitter sent off for two yellow cards in five minutes. Middlesbrough coach Tony Pulis was convinced that Leadbitter’s second challenge on John Fleck did not deserve a booking. ‘It’s a free-kick,’ said Pulis. ‘The referee hasn’t got the slow motion that we’ve got — the kid’s thrown his hands in the air and rolled around. If he does catch him, it’s minimal. ‘He’s just booked Grant, rightly so, for pulling the lad back but actually knowing another booking takes the kid out of the game... ‘Referees have to understand there will be times where players make honest challenges and (opponents) are quicker or have better balance and they’re going to give free-kicks away. In such a big game, to make that decision was very poor.’ Pulis reacted to a first half of low tempo by making a triple substitution at half-time and was rewarded immediately by Daniel Ayala turning in a Ben Gibson knock-down from Stewart Downing’s free-kick. However, there was to be no equaliser and now Boro have dropped to seventh while United are one point and two places behind and also very much in the play-off hunt. ‘We are alive and kicking,’ said Sheffield boss Chris Wilder. ‘We were outstanding first half. It was good for “Evo”. ‘He is a technical player, a young player, he sometimes makes daft decisions but he wants to learn and I have told the midfielders they have to chip in.’