Sheffield United 1-3 Norwich City: Canaries Hand Blades First Defeat of Campaign | OneFootball

Sheffield United suffered a 3-1 home defeat against Norwich City on Saturday afternoon, marking the first loss of the campaign for the Blades.

The visitors took the lead inside the opening ten minutes when former Owls man Anthony Musaba found the back of the net. United equalised soon after with an emphatic finish from Patrick Bamford. However, the Canaries managed to find another goal just before half-time through Mohamed Toure. Shortly after the hour mark, Mathias Kvistgaarden delivered the final blow after a goalmouth scramble in front of the away end.

Lineups

Blades: Cooper, Tanganga, Choudhury, Donovan (Arblaster 77), Kitching, Brereton Diaz (Shackleton 77), Campbell (Cannon 58), Norrington-Davies (McCallum 58), Peck, Riedewald (Phillips 45), Bamford.

Unused: Davies, Rothwell, McGuinness, Baptiste.

Norwich: Kovacevic, Mattsson, Brooks (Crnac 85), Chrisene, McConville (Darling 85), Slimane (Wright 61), Toure (Kvistgaarden 61), McLean, Córdoba, Fisher, Musaba (Diallo 70).

Unused: Grimshaw, Stacey, Yongwa, Maghoma.

First Half

Neither side had done enough to establish control during the opening stages, but Norwich needed just one real opportunity to break the deadlock.

The visitors patiently shifted possession across the edge of the United penalty area before Brooks and Pelle Mattsson combined to create the opening. The ball was worked into the path of Musaba, who made no mistake, curling a right-footed finish into the top corner beyond Michael Cooper.

Brooks, making his return to Bramall Lane, almost added to Norwich’s advantage soon afterwards. The former Blades man connected with a McLean corner but could only send his volley beyond the far post.

United responded and began to threaten at the other end.

Sydie Peck found space down the left channel on 17 minutes and unleashed a powerful effort, but Norwich goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic stood firm to keep it out.

From the resulting corner, Liam Kitching appeared to have levelled when he rose highest at the far post and headed into the net. However, the goal was ruled out after the referee spotted a foul on Kovacevic.

The Blades did not have to wait much longer for their equaliser. On 23 minutes, Campbell helped create the opening, with Brereton Diaz’s ball finding Patrick Bamford in a promising position. United’s number 45 showed his quality, producing a composed left-footed finish to restore parity.

With the game finely balanced, both teams looked capable of taking control, but Norwich struck again just before the interval. A flick from former Blade Slimane sent the ball into the path of Toure, who broke away from the United defence before calmly finding the back of the net. The forward was subsequently booked for his celebrations as Norwich headed into the break with a 2-1 advantage.

Second Half

Chris Wilder’s side needed a response after the restart and substitute Kalvin Phillips almost provided it with a spectacular effort. The midfielder unleashed a fierce strike from around 30 yards, only to see the attempt narrowly miss the post.

United continued to search for another route back into the game, but Norwich delivered the decisive blow through another player introduced from the bench. Kvistgaarden had barely been on the pitch when he reacted quickest to a loose ball and fired home to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.

There was still time for the Blades to mount a late comeback. Bamford tried to force his way into a dangerous position late on, but Chrisene made an important challenge to halt his progress.

United continued pushing in the closing stages, with Sam McCallum sending an effort over the crossbar deep into added time.

Sheffield United are back in action in midweek when they travel to Lancashire to take on Blackburn Rovers.