United tasted back-to-back losses after being beaten 3-1 by Stoke City at the weekend. This marks the first defeat on the road for United since the opening game of the season.
Heckingbottom was forced into several changes to the starting XI that faced QPR in midweek. Brewster, Khadra, McAtee and Gordon all started, as Baldock, Berge and Bogle missed out through injury, and McBurnie served a one-game ban.
The Blades could’ve taken the lead very early on when McAtee and Khadra combined, Khadra flicked the ball around the defence and McAtee ran onto it with his weaker right foot and dragged it wide.
It was Stoke that took the early lead instead, Baker’s pinpoint cross was allowed to bounce through to the back post and Wilmot steered his header past a diving Foderingham.
That goal woke United up however, Doyle hit a long-range shot that Bursik had to deal with. From the resulting corner, a mixture of Egan and Gordon looked to have got the Blades back level, but a goal-line clearance from Sterling saw United denied.
Just before the half-hour mark, United found the equaliser from down the left as Norrington-Davies slid a ball down outside for McAtee to run onto at the byline, and he delivered an outstanding cross to Brewster who made his first-time inside-of-the-foot volley look simple.
Shortly after, Ndiaye dropped his shoulder on the edge of the box to give himself an extra yard of space and he hit a low-driven shot towards the bottom left corner, but the ball hit the inside of the post, rebounded into Bursik, and Bursik gathered the ball.
Then followed Stoke City’s second goal and it was a header from a Baker corner from Blades legend Jagielka which saw Stoke get back in front just before half-time.
The second half began and United could’ve levelled it up through Norrington-Davies when Doyle whipped in a delightful cross, but Norrington-Davies couldn’t control his finish. Then Norwood was needed to clear off the line after Fosu had volleyed towards the goal from Baker’s corner.
Norwood had a crack at goal from distance but it sailed just high and wide. At this point, United had thrown on Sharp, Sachdev, Osborn, Jebbison and Arblaster.
But as they were desperately chasing an equaliser, Stoke enhanced their lead through substitute Delap in the 90th minute.
Stoke: Bursik, Fox, Jagielka, Baker (Thompson 90), Campbell, Gayle (Delap 72), Wilmot, Smallbone (Clucas 82), Sterling (Clarke 82), Fosu, Laurent.
Unused: Bonham, Flint, Wright-Phillips.
Blades: Foderingham, Basham, Brewster (Jebbison 75), Khadra (Sharp 58), Egan, Norwood, Doyle (Osborn 75), McAtee (Arblaster 66), Ndiaye, Norrington-Davies, Gordon (Sachdev 75).
Unused: Davies, Brooks.