Sheffield United 1-2 Middlesbrough: Boro Blunt Blades in Thriller at Bramall Lane | OneFootball

Sheffield United fell to a 2-1 defeat against Middlesbrough at Bramall Lane on Monday night.

Boro forward Tommy Conway put the visitors in front inside the opening 20 minutes when he expertly slid the ball beyond Michael Cooper and into the far corner of the net at the Kop end. They soon doubled their advantage before the break when Riley McGree reacted quickest to head home after a Hayden Hackney shot crashed off the post. The Blades didn’t go quietly and it was former Boro striker Patrick Bamford who timed his run well to latch onto a fantastic Gustavo Hamer pass and finished under the Middlesbrough keeper. But just as the Blades were thinking of a comeback, they were reduced to ten men when debutant Joe Rothwell was shown a straight red card.

Lineups

Blades: Cooper, Tanganga, Arblaster (Rothwell HT), Bindon, Hamer, O’Hare (Campbell 67), Brooks, Burrows (Hjelde 84), Seriki, Peck (Phillips 67), Bamford.

Unused: A. Davies, Cannon, Hoever, Ogbene, McGuinness.

Middlesbrough: Brynn, Brittain, Ayling, Malanda, Targett, Browne, Morris (Sarmiento 87), Hackney, Whittaker (Strelec 78), McGree (Gilbert 67), Conway (Fry 78).

Unused: Wildsmith, Munroe, Hansen, Sene, Ibeh.

First Half

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 09: Tommy Conway of Middlesbrough celebrates after scoring his sides first goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United and Middlesbrough at Bramall Lane on February 09, 2026 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Kate McShane/Getty Images)

A breathless opening set the tone as United made the early running, Gustavo Hamer testing Sol Brynn with a sharp effort before Sydie Peck skewed a follow-up wide. The Blades were on the front foot from the off, pressing high and moving the ball quickly, and they continued to threaten when Oliver Arblaster fired over from the edge of the box after Hamer had teed him up.

Boro were far from passive, though, and Conway went close when he slammed an effort wide. Still, United enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges, with Andre Brooks causing problems through his direct running. On ten minutes, the winger broke clear and cleverly left the ball for Peck, whose goalbound strike took a deflection and went wide. Another Blades chance followed soon after as Femi Seriki burst to the by-line and pulled the ball back for Brooks, only for his effort to be blocked.

Despite that pressure, Boro continued to create chances of their own, with McGree and Morgan Whittaker both passing up good opportunities.

The breakthrough came via a fine team move. McGree slipped a perfectly weighted pass into Conway’s path, and the striker showed real composure to shoot low across Michael Cooper and into the corner.

Chances continued to flow at both ends as Hayden Hackney saw an effort clip the outside of the post, while at the other end Hamer’s pinpoint ball in behind was expertly controlled by Bamford, whose fierce strike rattled the outside of the frame.

United pushed hard for a leveller on 32 minutes. Seriki won the ball back high up the pitch and drove forward before finding Peck, who laid it into Hamer’s path. The midfielder’s shot looked destined for the corner until Brynn produced a fingertip save.

However, the crucial second goal arrived right on the stroke of half-time. Hackney surged forward from midfield and saw his deflected shot strike the base of the post, the rebound falling kindly for McGree to head into an empty net.

Second Half

United made a change at the interval, with Joe Rothwell making his Blades debut in place of Arblaster.

The hosts nearly halved the deficit when Brooks combined neatly with Callum O’Hare, whose low centre flashed across the six-yard box just beyond the reach of Bamford.

Moments later, Hamer produced another moment of quality, threading a superb pass through for Bamford, who ran onto it and finished clinically low beyond Brynn in front of the Kop.

The Blades almost drew level immediately as Brooks surged into the area once more, the ball breaking to Tyrese Campbell whose powerful strike was blocked.

However, the momentum swung again when Joe Rothwell, on as a half-time substitute, saw red for a challenge on Browne during his debut appearance.

United continued to press late on, with Seriki having a penalty shout waved away and a late corner finding Tanganga, whose glancing header drifted wide near the touchline as the drama finally came to an end.