Sharp glad to dump out ‘disrespectful’ Wrexham
Sheffield United striker Billy Sharp accused Wrexham of being disrespectful ahead of their FA Cup fourth-round replay which saw the Hollywood-owned National League club miss out on a blockbuster tie with Tottenham.
The Blades needed two injury-time goals to get past Wrexham, who are owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, as Sharp and Sander Berge ensured it would be they who enjoy the glamour tie against Antonio Conte, Harry Kane and the like after a 3-1 win.
The non-league side had dreams of a happy ending for large parts of the night when Paul Mullin’s controversial penaltyhadcancelledoutAnel Ahmedhodzic’sopenerbefore the Blades rewrote the script.
Sharp said the Welsh side acted as if they were already through before the game and that he was “glad” to knock them out. “I think they have been disrespectful with a few things before the game thinkingtheywerealreadythrough,” Sharp said. “I am glad we have beat them.
“Theyaredoingwellintheir leagueandwearedoingwellin ourleague,Iwasn’thappywith a few of their players. That is it now, we have got one over them, good luck to them for promotion, we put that one to bed now. A few of their players I wasn’t happy with and I’m a little bit frustrated at the end, I should have put the game to bed before I did but it is one of those things.
“I wasn’t happy with the waytheyhavebeenasaclubbeforethegame,eyeingupSpurs. They’ve not even beat us. If we get beat in the next round fair enough, we will give it a go.”
Given the first match at the Racecourse Ground was a thriller, ending 3-3, it was always going to be difficult for thesequeltoliveuptotheoriginal,butitcertainlyhaddrama.
Mullin, who later missed a second penalty, was clearly outside of the penalty area when Ahmedhodzic’s foul started for the spot-kick he did score, though it continued to the very edge of the box.
The Blades were denied what looked to be a clear penalty of their own late on and Sharp said referee Leigh Doughty was “helping them out”. Sharp added: “I think they thought we were going to roll over when they got back in it and I think the referee was helping them out all night as well.”