Fleck double has Blades eyeing a European place
A COUPLE of fine John Fleck finishes handed Sheffield United back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time in 13 years and emphasised the gap between themselves and the other newly-promoted sides.
Having seen off Norwich — the club that pipped them to the Championship title seven months ago — this victory over Aston Villa has them focused on the higher echelons rather than the bottom three.
‘We talked at the start of the season about the effect of backto-back losses but it’s been a strength of the team in my time here that we haven’t had any of those losing periods, and to take it forward with two wins is fabulous — a brilliant achievement,’ said Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder.
Wilder’s team sit in fifth place this morning, directly below the Champions League positions. Villa, meanwhile, are concerned about another significant line in the table — the one that separates the bottom three from the rest.
These are teams moving in opposite directions and the plight that the Midlanders now find themselves in, after taking just four points from a possible 24, was emphasised when their captain Jack Grealish squandered a lifeline in the final quarter hour.
VAR official Stuart Burt penalised the Blades after replays showed the ball striking John Egan’s hand in the process of blocking a cross, but Grealish slammed the penalty against the crossbar.
That kept the home side’s twogoal advantage intact, earned after another rousing start to a second period. In a reprise of last week’s win at Norwich, Wilder’s men surged out of the blocks and within five minutes Bramall Lane was restored to its atmospheric best.
Chris Basham stepped into territory few central defenders dare to tread and threw in a back-heel for good measure, allowing John Lundstram to thread a cross into the six-yard box, where Fleck emerged to turn in at the near post.
Suddenly, one whose shots on goal could be counted on one finger (ex-Villa trainee Enda Stevens clearing the bar with ease) exploded into life. Such a statistic was credit to a Villa team re-shaped by Dean Smith following last week’s 4-1 mauling by Leicester.
Three of the back four were dispensed with — Tyrone Mings due to a hamstring injury — meaning a first Premier League appearance for the club for Kortney Hause, a £3million summer signing from Wolves, alongside Bjorn Engels at the heart of the defence and a return for Frederic Guilbert at right-back.
The changes had the desired effect from a defensive perspective and Smith was pleased with the first-half spoiling work in what he dubbed ‘a game of few chances; one littered with fouls, free-kicks and what-not’.
But the upshot was a loss of the attacking verve that Villa displayed last month in holding
Manchester United to a draw at Old Trafford.
‘We never managed the ball as well as we could with the cultured players that we have got. They deserved to win because they were more enterprising than we were,’ admitted Smith.
During a brief purple patch they hit the side netting on either side of the goal through a Wesley shot on the turn and a Grealish header from assists by Anwar El Ghazi.
United were more decisive in the final third and settled the result with a stunning team goal finished by Fleck 17 minutes from time.
Having fed the ball to George Baldock on the edge of the area, the Scotland midfielder continued his run and took David McGoldrick’s delicious hooked pass in his stride before dispatching past Tom Heaton.
Wilder said: ‘We rode our luck with Jack Grealish missing the penalty but I think the right result has happened today.
‘It was a tough afternoon for John. He got booked for a non-contact tackle, which was obviously disappointing for him. It was an unbelievably mature performance.’
One that leaves the top-flight’s surprise package contemplating a very happy Christmas.