Sheffield United returned to league action on Saturday afternoon with a 1-0 home victory over Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town.
United remain in 2nd place in the table, and still 3pts behind Burnley after their win over QPR on Sunday afternoon. But Heckingbottom’s side have stretched the gap to 3rd place by 5pts, and United have a considerably better goal difference.
The Blades started the game at a good tempo, moving the ball with plenty of zip and intent, and the home side broke the deadlock 15 minutes into the contest.
Billy Sharp netted his first goal of the season with an exquisite left-footed dink over the onrushing goalkeeper, Iliman Ndiaye wriggled away from multiple challenges and slid the ball through to the club captain.
United were completely dominant in the first period as Huddersfield Town could barely get a kick of the ball.
In the second half, Paul Heckingbottom’s men didn’t have the same success; the Terriers came out with a better intensity, but they could only muster 1 shot on target for their efforts which shows how well the Blades defended their box.
Paul Heckingbottom commented on the game:
“We had good preparation, and I was not in any doubt that we would perform like that. Every bit in that first half was there from the last two and half weeks.
I said at half-time the only thing going to beat us was us. Huddersfield challenged us more in the second half and we had to get more right without the ball, but we didn’t do it.” [Yorkshire Live]
Iliman Ndiaye returned to training on Thursday after arriving back from the Qatar World Cup, and he picked up from where he left off, contributing to yet another Blades goal.
Heckingbottom described Ndiaye’s performance on the ball as “fantastic”.
“I thought Iliman was fantastic with the ball. I can’t wait to get hold of him without the ball because you can tell he’s not been with us for a while.
Billy scored two behind closed doors against Rotherham, so I fancied him to score today.” [Yorkshire Live]