Sheffield United Stuns Blackburn with Late Comeback Victory

Sheffield United snatched victory with a ruthless burst of finishing at Blackburn, turning a game they had barely laid a glove on into a 2-1 win that drags them closer to the Championship summit.

Blackburn dominated the first half, dictated the tempo, and took a deserved lead. They still walked off at the break behind, stunned by two Sheffield United attacks that cut straight through them.

Rovers on top, Blades on the ropes

From the opening whistle, Rovers played like a side intent on erasing the memory of their previous defeat. They pressed high, moved the ball quickly and pinned Sheffield United back.

The breakthrough came on 20 minutes. Sydie Peck was robbed in midfield by Kristi Montgomery, who took full advantage. She strode forward and ripped a superb strike into the top-right corner from 20 yards, her first goal for the club and a finish that matched Blackburn’s early authority.

The hosts almost doubled their lead six minutes later. On his first Rovers start, Jayden Fevrier surged forward and slid Dapo Afolayan into space on the left. Afolayan’s driven effort flashed just past the far post with Michael Cooper beaten.

Blackburn kept coming. They thought they had their second in the 35th minute when Afolayan’s fierce strike was only parried by Cooper and Cantwell followed in to score, but the flag went up for offside. A warning for Sheffield United. A let-off they seized on instantly.

Two chances, two goals, game flipped

Up to that point, Chris Wilder’s side had offered nothing. Not a shot of note in 34 minutes. Then, out of nowhere, the Blades cut Blackburn open.

Within a minute of Cantwell’s disallowed goal, Peck atoned for his earlier error. He threaded an inch-perfect pass down the left for Tom Cannon, who stayed ice-cool and rolled the ball under Aynsley Pears into the bottom-right corner. One chance, one goal, and suddenly the visitors were level.

Blackburn tried to respond. Peck was caught again in a dangerous area after Romelle Donovan played him into trouble, but Fevrier’s low strike was deflected just wide of the right-hand post.

Just as Rovers pushed, they were hit again.

In the 44th minute, Joe Rothwell picked out Peck, who produced a moment of real quality. He flicked the ball over Tom Atcheson, stepped onto it and hammered a low finish into the bottom-left corner. From being at fault for the opener, he had a goal and an assist and Sheffield United had turned the game on its head with their only two shots of the half.

Choudhury’s heroics and Blades’ grit

Blackburn came out after the interval knowing they had already shown they could open Sheffield United up. They created the chance they wanted on 57 minutes and still didn’t score.

The visitors failed to clear their lines and the ball dropped to Afolayan six yards out, with only Hamza Choudhury between him and the net. Afolayan looked certain to equalise. Choudhury threw himself in the way and somehow blocked on the line, a staggering piece of defending that summed up the Blades’ second-half mindset.

Rovers kept probing. Ryan Alebiosu broke clear midway through the half and dragged a shot just wide. At the other end, Sheffield United almost killed the contest in the 72nd minute when Sam McCallum’s effort squirmed under Pears, only for Yuri Rubeiro to race back and clear off the line.

Cooper then came to the Blades’ rescue again, getting down sharply to his right to deny Fevrier with eight minutes left. Blackburn pushed, the pressure built, but Wilder’s side dug in and saw it out to hand Rovers back-to-back defeats.

Managers’ verdicts

Tony Mowbray did not hide his frustration at how Blackburn let the game slip.

“Ultimately, we lost a game and I think the goals we lost were very soft,” he said. “The first one, goalkeeper kicked it out of his six-yard box down the middle of our pitch and within a few seconds, it's in the back of our net. That's just soft really, you've got to do the basics better.

“I think on the positive side, without seeing any data, it felt like we were pretty dominant in the game. It felt like we were the team that had the most shots, had the most chances, had the most – if we want to talk about data – expected goals.

“I think there's lots of positives to be looked at. We got into some great areas. Less than a minute before they scored to equalise, we scored a goal that was marginally offside.

“We shot ourselves in the foot really. We weren't ruthless enough. You can't give games away like that, that you're so dominant in.”

For Wilder, it was about character and edge, not aesthetics.

“We've moved into the top 10 tonight. Lost one all season. Yes, we're not flowing, but we've got an attitude about us, got character about us,” he said.

“I didn't enjoy Saturday (the loss against Norwich). I wanted a reaction. I asked for the players to dig in, scramble about, do jobs that some of them are not used to doing, getting players up to speed as well. You could see Hamza (Choudhury) was absolutely shot after the game he's played, Ben (Brereton Diaz) as well.

“I asked for a gritty performance that represents me, the club, the city, and our team and we got that.

“For me, it's always the result, and improve on the performance. I'm not one of those to improve on the performance and the results will come.

“I'm not embarrassed about winning games of football because we didn't win a lot of games of football at the start of last year.”

Clinical in front of goal, brutal in the key moments, Sheffield United walked away with the points and a statement: they might not be purring yet, but they are edging ever closer to the top of the league – and learning how to win when they’re second best.