The Sunday Post (Newcastle)

sheffield UniTed 0

-

soUThaMPTo­n 1

Djenepo (66) Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder questioned VAR after his side’s home defeat to Southampto­n.

The video assistant referee was used three times during the match – each time going in the visitors’ favour.

Wilder agreed that Oli McBurnie’s goal, which would have put his team ahead, was correctly ruled out for offside and that Billy Sharp deserved to be sent off for what he called a “lazy challenge”.

However, in between, James Ward-Prowse looked to have handled the ball while defending a corner, but the Blades were not awarded the penalty that would have given them the chance to equalise.

“There were three big decisions. Billy deserves to be sent off. It was a centre forward’s challenge, a lazy challenge, and maybe a bit of frustratio­n from him, so I’ve no issue with that decision,” said Wilder.

“Our goal – I’ve no issue with that either.

“John Egan has gone a touch too early and the goalkeeper has been distracted by his movement before Oli taps it in. That’s fine.

“But the third one is a penalty in my view. If you look, there’s three of our boys around him ( Ward-Prowse) waiting to tap it in and they haven’t been able to because his hand is in an unnatural position.”

There was nothing wrong with the goal that settled the match, with Moussa Djenepo marking his first Premier League start for Southampto­n with the winning strike.

The Mali internatio­nal forward, signed from Standard Liege in the summer, scored the only goal of the game after 66 minutes to give Saints a 1-0 victory.

Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “We decided to change the shape after three games unbeaten – not the easiest way but we were brave.

“Maybe it was surprising for them.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom