A spirited second half performance by Sheffield United saw them waste a number of good opportunities and have a late goal wrongly disallowed as they lost vital ground on their opponents West Ham. A Hayden Mullins header in the 36th minute ended up being the difference between the two sides.
West Ham’s Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez had the first real opportunity of the match as he managed to get in behind Davis but put his shot wide of the near post. Some good work by Hulse gave the Blades their first chance but Quinn shot just over the bar from a narrow angle.
The Blades almost took the lead moments later from a corner but Davis’ header was cleared off the line by the impressive Konchesky and nothing came from the resulting corner.
After a fairly quiet first 35 minutes West Ham took the lead from some poor defending by the away side. First Davis lost the ball on the wing to Zamora, and the striker found Bowyer in the box but his effort was blocked by Kozluck. Worse was to come for the Blades as a flick on from the resulting corner found the unmarked Mullins, who headed past Kenny.
The Blades created little in reply to the goal before half-time, largely due to referee Mike Riley’s eagerness to blow his whistle at every possible opportunity. It appears Riley believes that football is now a non contact sport. ‘Whistle happy’ doesn’t even go half-way to explaining the inemptitude of his performance.
Sheffield United started the second half brightly and created a chance within the first two minutes. Quinn broke free down the wing but his cross was put wide by youngster Nicky Law.
On 60 minutes Warnock gave the travelling support what they wanted and brought on forwards Nade and Kabba for Quinn and Montgomery. It had an immmediate effect as Nade neatly turned on the edge of the box but was denied by a last ditch Gabbidon tackle.
The Blades finally started to exert some real pressure on the home side and should have scored twice in the space of a minute. First Gillespie found Nade with a cross but the striker shot wide of the post. Seconds later another Gillespie cross caused problems but as the ball set up for Law he dragged his shot agonisingly wide of the post.
As the Blades continued to press another Davis header was saved by Green. West Ham, who knew they were lucky to still be in front, finally came back at the Blades. Sheringham and Mullins both had efforts saved by Kenny before Harewood broke through but chipped just wide of the post. Kazim-Richards curled an effort round the post in reply for the Blades.
The most controversial incident of the game was saved for the final minute though. As West Ham partially cleared a freekick Leigertwood crossed the ball back into the box and, as Green misjudged his punch under pressure from Geary, Kozluck stroked the ball in to the empty net. As 3,000 Blades supporters went mad at the other end of the pitch Riley blew his whistle to disallow the goal.
It was a moment of pure heartbreak for Sheffield United, who’s second half performance was worthy of at least a point. The poor decision from Riley was inkeeping with his attitude throughout the game. He blew up at every possible decision, ruining the flow of the game for both teams, even if an advantage was on. If a player had put in as poor a performance as Riley managed on Saturday he’d be dropped for the next game no question, but Riley, as always, will go unpunished.
The defeat has left the Blades in a precarious position in the Premiership table. Neil Warnock’s side next travel to fellow strugglers Watford on Tuesday night, where another defeat is simply unthinkable for the Yorkshire club.
Player Ratings
Kenny
6/10
Had little to do other than pick the ball out of the net. Made a few routine saves.
Kozluck
6.5/10
Made a great block from Bowyer but also made some poor passes.
Davis
5.5/10
Davis’ worst game for the Blades to date. Made a number of misjudgements that let West Ham in.
Jagielka
7/10
A solid performance from Jags.
Geary
6.5/10
Geary’s doing better at this level then a lot of people thought he would but is still not Premiership class.
Leigertwood
7/10
Worked his socks off and tried to get forward as much as possible.
Law
7/10
For an 18 year old Law showed a lot of maturity but should have scored.
Montgomery
5.5/10
Worked hard as always but wasn’t involved as much as he should have been.
Quinn
6.5/10
Saw a lot of the ball but his crossing left a lot to be desired.
Gillespie
6.5/10
Did well defensively and put two great crosses in that should have been put in the back of the net.
Hulse
6.5/10
Played up front on his own and saw little support from midfield until Nade and Kabba came on.
Nade
6.5/10
Caused West Ham trouble but could have been more preditory with his chance.
Kabba
5/10
Got longer than usual on the pitch but created very little.
5.5/10
Had more impact than Kabba but should have done better with his late chance.