Not the Friday night Halloween thriller many expected, as Sheffield united breeze past Wrexham in a rather routine 1-0 win.
The Blades dominated the first half putting Wrexham under consistent pressure. Japhet Tanganga’s beautiful ball over the top found Jordan Ayew, who’s shot was palmed out straight into Ben Berenton Diaz’s path for a tap in goal after 30 minutes.
Just 3 minutes later Wrexham Captain Dominic Hyam put in a late challenge clattering through the back of Harrison Burrows’ left leg. A little heavy on the theatrics, Burrows goes down. Home fans and players alike saw the rash challenge as a certain penalty, yet referee David Webb waves to play on. Speaking after the game, Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder was disappointed by the perceived mistake, stating unequivocally that “the penalty should have been given”.
19-year-old Romelle Donovan had a fantastic first half, consistently outworking the Wrexham defence. The young attacker on loan from Brentford hasn’t seen as much game-time as he may have expected as of late, but he certainly proved to Wilder today why he should be getting more minutes. Playing off the left, Donovan combined well with left-back, Burrows, who had a great game. Both put in some good crosses overlapping with pace going forward, but also tracking back well.
Simply outworked across the pitch, Kalvin Phillips looked particularly strong overpowering the Wrexham midfield, putting in a valiant defensive performance earning himself man of the match. The Red Dragons couldn’t seem to put many moves together losing possession and failing to create any really quality chances in the first half. On his return to Bramall Lane after leaving The Blades to join Wrexham last season, Kieffer Moore saw very little of the ball, and proved unable to change the games direction across 90 minutes.
Very little can be said for Wrexham in the second half either. They lacked the drive and determination that has characterised the club over the past few years. While it was undoubtably an improvement on the first half’s dismal display, Wrexham failed to put Sheffield United under any considerable pressure. A double halftime substitution did breathe some life into The Red Dragons, with Sam Smith making a real impression after his introduction with a few good crosses and a decent header off target in the 54th minute.
Overall, it was a solid performance from The Blades, despite lacking a clinical edge in front of goal. They could have given a little more in the second half to earn themselves some breathing room as a one goal margin left them vulnerable, as Wilder put it, to the potential “travesty” of an equaliser. In the last 5 minutes a desperate Wrexham did manage their best chance of the game with Smith putting a good header on target this time, but failing to get the pace on the ball allowing blades keeper Michael Cooper an easy catch.
Despite this, Sheffield United did themselves and their fans proud picking up a well-deserved win. Wilder praised an “outstanding” Ayew, who looked strong upfront replacing the injured Patrick Bamford. Despite not finding the back of the net, he proved quite the nuisance for Wrexham’s back line.
For Wrexham this is certainly a game to forget with just 1 win in 7 away games so far this season. Parkinson looked dejected after the game, repeatedly stating that his team were “way off it” and simply lacking “consistent desire” and “effort”. In addition, he pointed to the swathe of injuries that has hit his squad specifically across the front line, with star winger Callum O’hare missing out this week alongside injuries to several other key attackers. The Red Dragons will doubtless be disappointed and look to put in a better performance against top of the table Middlesborough on Wednesday in there push towards the playoff places.
Image Credit: ESPN
