Jamie Jackson’s match report
Okay, maybe it was a clear and obvious error
"I don't know how they haven't looked at that & gone 'that's a stonewall penalty' for me" 👀 @rioferdy5 & Joe Cole believe Jarrod Bowen was denied an "absolute" penalty as he was brought down in box during the final moments of the game...
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 21, 2024
🎙️ @laura_woodsy pic.twitter.com/kmvQlP0cb3
“I’m guessing that referees have been told to be more vigilant about goalkeepers missing the ball and hitting the player instead, after the non-penalty for Wolves against Man Utd,” says Andy Flintoff. “Although, IMHO, if it were a tackle on a player without the ball outside the box, it’d be a free kick every time, so it’s about time it was tightened up.”
Yeah but don’t forget you can’t be LBW if it pitches outside leg.
The even bigger game of the day is at Potters Resort in Norfolk
“If anyone’s interested,” deadpans Simon McMahon, “Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshall is currently trailing Stuart ‘Neeps’ Anderson by a set, and is 7-5 down in the second. The standard is high, as you’d expect in a final, and the crowd seem up for it but, well, it’s not the darts is it? Luke Littler, eh, bloody hell.”
The big game of the day is Bournemouth v Liverpool, which kicks off in about 25 minutes. Tim de Lisle has the team news.
David Moyes stomps off with a face like the apocalypse. The paradox is that the happier team is the one that really needed to win: a draw is no use to Sheffield United, but they’ll take it in the circumstances.
Full time: Sheff Utd 2-2 West Ham
Bowen was being manhandled Robinson and fell over, with the ball hitting his hand as he did so. You could make a case for it being a foul – but presumably not for a clear and obvious error. Either way VAR didn’t get involved, and it’s the last incident of another tedious Premier League match.
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90+14 min Now Bowen goes down in the area, thinking he’s been fouled, and the referee gives a free-kick against him!
McBurnie swept a good penalty low to his left. Fabianski went the right way but couldn’t get near it.
GOAL! Sheff Utd 2-2 West Ham (McBurnie 90+13 min)
After a delay of almost five minutes, McBurnie keeps his nerve to score!
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90+12 min: McAtee was a dummy. Oli McBurnie is going to take it…
90+12 min: Lukasz Fabianski is coming on for the penalty! Areola walks off nursing a cut lip. This is absurd. Fabianski is taking an age to walk towards goal.
90+11 min Areola cut his lip, hence the treatment. James McAtee is waiting to take the penalty, rolling the ball around in his hands.
90+10 min Areola is still receiving treatment. There were only supposed to be six added minutes.
Areola is down holding his face but he’s been penalised for flattening McBurnie as they challenged for a cross. Both players missed the ball and then collided; the referee decided it was a foul by Areola, who came flying out fist-first. It won’t be overturned.
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Penalty to Sheff Utd!
My word!
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Coufal is sent off!
90+7 min He walks off smiling at the absurdity of it all, though he can’t have any complaints about the second yellow card. The first was in the aftermath of Brewster’s red card; the second was for a weary lunge at McAtee.
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90+6 min Divin Mubama replaces Danny Ings.
90+5 min Ings punches the ground in frustration after having two close-range shots blocked in the space of a few seconds. He’s been excellent today and has done everything but score his first goal of the season.
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Brewster is sent off
90+3 min He walks straight down the tunnel in the highest dudgeon. Coufal has also been booked, presumably for asking why Brewster was only booked on the field.
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The refereee is going to the monitor. Brewster slid towards Emerson from a different postcode, studs-first, and wiped him out. Even though the point of contact was relatively low, in the modern game that’s a red card.
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90+1 min Rhian Brewster could be in trouble here. He clattered Emerson with a poor challenge that led to a shoving match involving players on both sides. He’s been booked but VAR are checking it. I think he’ll be off.
89 min After more good play from Ings, who has buzzed with purpose all day, Johnson wafts over from 25 yards.
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88 min: Sheff Utd substitution Ollie Norwood for Vinicius Souza.
87 min McAtee has a shot blocked after a flick-on from McBurnie, then play stops because of an injury to Zouma. He inadvertently played a game of Twister while challenging McAtee and might have done something unpleasant to his knee.
86 min That goal has flattened Sheffield United, who look like they know it’s over – the match and the season. They’ve been competitive in all bar two of their home games, against Newcastle (0-8) and Bournemouth (a flattering 1-3), yet this would be their eighth defeat in 11 at Bramall Lane.
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84 min: Chance for West Ham! Ings finds Bowen on the right of the area. He uses Robinson as a screen and curls just wide of the far post. It’s been a frustrating afternoon for Bowen, who could have had two or three goals.
82 min This would be a fine win for West Ham, who are without Aguerd, Kudus, Alvarez, Lucas Paqueta, Antonio and Benrahma. It would also move them within three points of fifth place, a position that could get them into the Champions League.
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80 min: Double substitution for Sheffield United Rhian Brewster and Rhys Norrington-Davies come on for Auston Trusty and Andre Brooks.
GOAL! Sheff Utd 1-2 West Ham (Ward-Prowse 79 pen)
James Ward-Prowse launches the penalty straight down the middle and then tees off in front of a delirious away end. As he walks back to the centre circle he makes a point of, well, pointing at Danny Ings, who has made both goals today,
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Ings wriggled away from Robinson just inside the area before an overkeen Hamer kicked the back off his foot. It wasn’t as clear as I thought at first, but it won’t be overturned.
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Penalty to West Ham! Ings turns brilliantly in the area and has his feet taken away by Hamer. It looked a clear penalty.
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75 min Ahmedhodzic is booked for something or other.
74 min Just before that, Foderingham apparently made a terrific save to deny Ings. I didn’t see it because technology, but I’ll let you know what happened if I see a replay.
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74 min Archer has a shot from distance that is blocked by Zouma. There’s a West Ham player down on the far side; they are unsurprisingly starting to look pretty tired.
71 min McAtee beats a couple of defenders on the edge of the area… and then the TV picture freezes! What the actual? He didn’t score, that’s all I know.
70 min: West Ham substitution Ben Johnson on, Maxwel Cornet off, so both goalscorers have done one. He’s gone into midfield alongside Soucek and Ward-Prowse.
68 min There hasn’t been a shot on target at either end in the second half.
67 min: Sheff Utd substitution Cameron Archer replaces Ben Brereton Diaz, who emptied the tank for 66 minutes and scored a terrific equaliser.
65 min West Ham don’t have any experienced attacking options on the bench, but the full-back Ben Johnson is getting ready to come on.
64 min West Ham have weathered the storm and are having a decent spell of their own. Bowen cuts inside and has a shot blocked by a combination of Trusty and Vinicius Junior.
61 min Brooks’s shot from the edge of the D hits Mavropanos and bounces through to Areola. This won’t end 1-1.
60 min At the other end Cornet has a shot well blocked by the lunging Ahmedhodzic.
58 min: Brereton Diaz misses an excellent chance! McAtee moseys infield, in his own half, and angles a superb through ball to Brereton Diaz. He times his run perfectly from left to right, gallops purposefully into the area… and drags a shot wide of the far post. Unlike the goal, he had a lot of time to think about that chance.
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57 min: Chance efor McBurnie! Hamer curls the free-kick beyond the far post, where McBurnie is unmarked. His header back across goal is blocked, but the ball comes back to him and he swishes a volley over the ball. The angle was very tight.
56 min Cornet is penalised for handball just outside the penalty area. He doesn’t agree with the decision, and replays, though not conclusive, suggest he might have a point.
54 min Sheffield United are starting to dominate possession, though I guess that has never really bothered this West Ham team. Both teams will feel the game is there for the taking.
52 min A short corner is eventually headed over by Trusty at the far post. I doubt it registered even 0.05 on xG.
52 min “I’ll wholeheartedly endorse your campaign against “bottom-feeders” if you reciprocate and use your influence to also eradicate “prop up the table”,” writes Eric Peterson. “A phrase that connotes strength and sturdiness applied to the worst of a lot is absurd.
“(P.S. I took a quick trip down the “wooden spoon” rabbit hole. An object created amidst the elite of Victorian academia to mock those whose pending rewards from their education dwarfs their feeble scholarly contributions smacks of an irony to which those of accidental and overwhelming birth privilege are simply not inherently well-suited.)”
51 min It’s been an uneventful start to the second half. The moment I typed that, McAtee teases a gorgeous cross from the right that just evades the stretching McBurnie and bounces through to Areola. He has so much talent, that lad.
48 min Coufal’s long throw from the right is helped on by Soucek and headed away by Trusty (I think).
46 min Peep peep!
Sheffield United are making a half-time substitution Oli McBurnie for Will Osula, who might be injured as he played well in the first half.
Half-time reading
Bottom-feeder latest
“Not a fan of most Americanisms (esp ‘get-go’ and ‘standout’, not to mention ‘quarterbacking from deep’), but I quite liked the following effort,” says John Moloney. “I once (back in my military days, Boer War era) asked a young USAF officer wtf was going on. His reply was ‘no use asking me, sir, I am so low down the food chain I got plankton bites on my butt’. I never did find out wtf was going on however.”
“We’re all friends here, right?” says Simon McMahon. “Good, so please forgive me for mentioning that the World Indoor Bowls final is just about to start, featuring two Scots, and that this companion piece to the Scotland men’s football team boogie-ing in the changing room, once seen, cannot be unseen.”
“The careers of both Brereton Diaz and Maxwel Cornet seemed to have derailed this season, and so from a human perspective it’s lovely to see both of them on the scoresheet,” says Kári Tulinius. “It’s always sad to see a talented, skilful footballer struggle to show their best. These goals could spark a revival for both scorers.”
I’m not sure it will for Cornet, as he’s so far down the cab rank at West Ham, but it certainly could for Brereton Diaz. My colleague Michael Butler, who supports Blackburn, says he tended to score goals in clusters when he was at Ewood Park.
It’s also interesting that, even at a time when his confidence was low, his instinct kicked in and reminded him how good a finisher he can be.
Half time: Sheffield United 1-1 West Ham
Interesting stuff at Bramall Lane, where two goal droughts came to an end. Maxwel Cornet scored his first goal for West Ham since joining the club in August 2022, and it felt like the same old story for Sheffield United until Ben Brereton Diaz scored a terrific equaliser just before half-time. It was his first goal of the season in his 28th game.
The scoreline is about right, and Sheffield United have an exceedingly big 45 minutes coming up. They surely have to win this game.
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45+2 min Osula, who has been a handful for the West Ham defence, makes space for a shot that hits Mavropanos and flies over the bar.
45+1 min A dodgy squarew pass almost puts Sheffield United in trouble again, but Corner dithers and is dispossessed on the edge of the area.
What an emphatic finish that was. West Ham couldn’t get out from a long throw-in and that eventually led to the goal. McAtee’s long angled ball from the right was cleverly headed into a dangerous area by Trusty, 25 yards from goal. Osula’s header was clawed away by Areola, a pretty good save to his right, but Brereton Diaz reacted superbly to lift the bouncing ball over Ward-Prowse and ram it into the net on the half-volley. He did it all in one continuous, cathartic movement.
It probably helped, as the cliche goes, that he had no time to think. Instinct kicked in and he took the goal beautifully. It’s Brereton Diaz’s first of a miserable season, for club or country. A hitherto miserable season, I should say, because that could spark something.
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GOAL! Sheff Utd 1-1 West Ham (Brereton Diaz 44)
Ben Brereton Diaz’s goal drought is over!
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42 min Ward-Prowse is booked for a foul on Bogle. He got the ball but the referee decided he’d pulled Bogle back first.
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41 min A wicked, dipping corner from Ward-Prowse is screwed wide on the half-volley by Bowen. It wasn’t the easiest chance, especially in such a crowded area, but it was a chance nonetheless.
40 min Bowen turns his man majestically in the area and slides the ball across the six-yard box. It’s half cleared to Ings, whose fierce shot is crucially blocked, I think by Bogle. Whoever it was may have saved a goal
40 min Hamer is booked for pulling back Fornals.
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38 min Osula turns a defender cleverly on the right side of the area and smashes the ball right across the face of the goal. Just one problem: there were no Sheffield United players anywhere near him.
36 min McAtee goes down in the area, but the referee isn’t interested.
34 min Here’s Joe Pearson on the important business of the day: the phrase bottom-feeders. “Perhaps you’d prefer the scientific term ‘benthivore’ instead?” he writes. “Yes, I can google.”
Yes sir, I can google, surely.
33 min An imaginative through pass from Hamer just evades Brereton Diaz, who made an excellent run infield from the left. Sheffield United have played some good stuff today; they often do, and then they concede the first goal and it’s deja vu all over again.
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West Ham take the lead against the run of play. Ings curled a pass out to Coufal, who slid it back to Ings in the area. He wriggled away from Hamer to strike a shot that hit a defender and looped towards Cornet on the left.
Corner reacted smartly to twist his body and crack a volley that beat Foderingham for pace at the near post. That’s a fine finish, his first goal for West Ham.
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GOAL! Sheff Utd 0-1 West Ham (Cornet 28)
Trusty misses, Cornet hits.
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27 min: Chance for Trusty! Hamer plays a nice pass to McAtee, lurking with intent between the lines. He drives forward and wins another corner for Sheffield United. Hamer’s outswinger is met by Trusty, unmarked 10 yards out, but he heads straight into Areola’s loving arms. That was a pretty good chance.
23 min This is a good spell for Sheffield United. Brooks nutmegs Coufal and angles the ball back to Brereton Diaz on the edge of the area. He curls a relatively tame shot into the arms of Areola.
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21 min Areola makes a brilliant save from Osula, though the flag went up immediately. Brereton Diaz was the one offside as he ran through on goal. He squared the ball to Osula, whose shot was superbly saved.
Actually it wasn’t a great ball from Brereton Diaz, slightly behind Osula. He looks nervous in front of goal, no surprise given his scorelessness this season.
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18 min: Chance for Brooks! Now it’s Sheffield United’s turn to lament a missed opportunity. Robinson’s long throw was only half cleared to the edge of the area, from where Brooks located Row Z.
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16 min It’s in an almost identical position to Ivan Toney’s goal yesterday. This time Hamer doesn’t move the ball and crashes his free-kick into the wall.
15 min Hamer spins a nice pass round the corner to Osula, who is fouled just outside the area by Zouma. This looks perfect for the left foot of James McAtee…
14 min: Chance for Bowen! Vinicius Souza is caught on the ball by Ings, who nicks it past Ahmedhodzic and feeds Bowen on the edge of the area. He moves around the defence, away from goal, and drags a left-foot shot wide of the far post. The angle wasn’t the easiest, but Bowen is normally really precise when he shoots from that sort of position.
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13 min Ward-Prowse’s free-kick from the left is headed towards goal by Zouma, 15 yards out, and Foderingham makes a comfortable save.
12 min: Good save by Foderingham! A long throw is nodded on by Soucek towards Ings, on the move as always. He hooks a first-time shot that is clawed away by the outrushing Foderingham. That’s a really good bit of anticipation.
11 min Vinicius Souza pelts a decent effort from 25 yards. Areola holds on as he falls to his right.
10 min Okay, these are the formations. I think.
Sheff Utd (4-1-4-1) Foderingham; Bogle, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Trusty; Vinicius Souza; McAtee, Hamer, Brooks, Brereton Diaz; Osula.
West Ham (4-2-3-1) Areola; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Cornet, Ings, Fornals; Bowen.
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9 min Hamer shoots wide from distance.
8 min Osula overhits a cross from the right. I’m trying to work out Sheffield United’s shape – it looks like Brereton Diaz has started on the left wing with Osula up front.
6 min Cornet cuts inside from the right and feeds the overlapping Coufal in the area. His cross is blocked at the near post.
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4 min West Ham are playing with Ings slightly behind Bowen rather than the other way round. The reason for this tactical observation is that bugger all is happening on the field.
3 min “Good morning from Pittsburgh!” writes Eric Peterson. “I think there’s a shade of utter lunacy among that certain faction of West Ham supporters responsible for the vitriol directed at David Moyes given not only their recent achievements (European silverware, for crying out loud) but also their current league status.
“If Sheffield United come out with the same kind of relentlessly physical approach that fed Bristol City’s upset of the Hammers in the FA Cup, this could be a very awkward day for West Ham. Losing to the Premier League bottom-feeders right after becoming the only Premier League team to be ousted from the FA Cup third round by lower-level opposition would pour some serious gasoline on the fire.”
Whoever invented the phrase “bottom-feeder” should be hunted down and warned about the law of unintended consequences. I don’t care whether they’ve been dead for over a century.
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2 min Both teams have started with a back four, as exclusively predicted nowhere.
1 min Peep peep! West ham, in their blue change strip, kick off from left to right as we watch.
Here come the players. With West Ham missing so many key men, this feels like a big chance for Sheffield United to launch their great escape. They’ve left it even later than the boys of 1990-91, but they still have the one thing all sentient beings need: hope.
‘Because someone had to’ is the frankly ominous subject of Matt Dony’s email.
The reflex is to write Moyes off as a notorious fan of straightforward football, but he’s hungry like the wolf for a bit of flair. The Jhon Duran deal may have come undone, but save a prayer for the potential Broja transfer. I can see him fitting in with the wild boys at West Ham.
No no no torius please no.
Ahmedhodzic dilemma tests Blades’ new harmony
Stick or twist: sell this month or delay until the summer? The now harmonious relationship between Sheffield United’s owner, Prince Abdullah, and Chris Wilder could be tested by Napoli’s serious interest in Anel Ahmedhodzic. The 24-year-old Bosnia and Herzegovina defender, who grew up in Sweden, arrived in South Yorkshire 18 months ago for what now looks a bargain £4m from Malmö. He played a key part in promotion from the Championship and has recently captained Wilder’s side.
With the side’s key centre-half, and usual skipper, John Egan, sidelined by an achilles tendon injury until late spring at the earliest, selling Ahmedhodzic now could ruin Wilder’s hopes of avoiding relegation. On the other hand, the cash would be extremely welcome at Bramall Lane. Meanwhile, the new loan signing Ben Brereton Díaz will be hoping to endear himself to the fans with a goal or two against West Ham.
This match has been inconsiderately scheduled in the middle of the transfer window, but West Ham are doing their best to compete on both fronts.
Team news
Ben Brereton Diaz, the Chile striker on loan from Villarreal, makes his Premier League debut for Sheffield United. He replaces Anis Ben Slimane in one of four changes from their last league game, a 2-0 defeat at the Etihad in December. James McAtee, Anel Ahmedhodzic and Gustavo Hamer come in for Luke Thomas, George Baldock and Oliver Norwood.
West Ham picked a near full strength team for their FA Cup defeat in Bristol last week. There are three changes today: Alphonse Areola, Pablo Fornals and the fit-again Jarrod Bowen come in for Lukasz Fabianski, Aaron Cresswell and Said Benrahma.
Both teams may switch to a back four. Or they may not, such is the eternal tease that is tactics.
Sheff Utd (4-1-4-1) Foderingham; Bogle, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Trusty; Vinicius Souza; McAtee, Hamer, Brooks, Brereton Diaz; Osula.
Substitutes: Brewster, McBurnie, Archer, Norwood, Osborn, Norrington-Davies, Amissah, Seriki, Buyabu.
West Ham (4-2-3-1) Areola; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Cornet, Ings, Fornals; Bowen.
Subs: Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Ogbonna, Casey, Mubama, Marshall,
Scarles, Orford.
Referee Michael Salisbury.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to to live coverage of Sheffield United v West Ham United at Bramall Lane. Let’s start with the team news, shall we.
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