Sheffield United 2-1 Hull City: FLW report as Blades stage dramatic comeback v Tigers | OneFootball

FLW report from Bramall Lane for this Yorkshire derby

Sheffield United put a dent in Hull City's promotion aspirations with a dramatic comeback in a fiesty Yorkshire derby at Bramall Lane on Saturday afternoon.

Sergej Jakirovic's team seized the early initiative when Oli McBurnie netted for the first time since February 24th on his return to S2 with a smart close-range finish.

However, a dramatic ending to the game saw Chris Wilder's side end a six-game winless run.

John Lundstram marked his own return to this part of the Steel City with two yellow cards and was sent off with 15 minutes to go, before the hosts levelled with five to play as Gus Hamer converted from the spot.

Substitute Danny Ings then proved to be the late hero for the Blades as he swept home his first goal since December in the final minute of normal time.

Sheffield United 2-1 Hull City

The Tigers looked to make a fast start as Mohamed Belloumi worked a shooting opportunity for himself inside 40 seconds that was turned behind for a corner.

They would be rewarded for their early pressure after five minutes as McBurnie latched onto Liam Millar's through ball after the Canadian initially intercepted a wayward pass from Joe Rothwell and drove towards the Blades box.

After Sydie Peck created United's first chance of the game with a low drive which was blocked by Semi Ajayi, another former Blade had a chance to double City's lead, but a Lundstram volley was smartly saved by Adam Davies.

Another counter-attack in the early stages saw Millar try his luck from range with a curling effort that flew only narrowly over the Welsh international's crossbar.

Midway through the first period, a neat interchange between Hamer and Callum O'Hare gave the latter time and space to shoot from 20 yards, but his effort was comfortable for Ivor Pandur. Hamer then looked to curl the ball past the Croatian, but his strike was diverted wide by Lewie Coyle.

Hull came close to a second on the half-hour mark when McBurnie attempted an audacious overhead kick from a Millar knockdown which was cleared off the line by Mark McGuinness.

Strong pressure from Davies then stopped Belloumi in his tracks after the Algerian got a shot away under pressure, before the hosts, somehow, failed to draw level from the resulting corner as a five-on-two situation eventually saw Patrick Bamford pass up a golden chance from 10 yards out.

Wilder's team certainly ended the first period stronger, though, and Andre Brooks' header from Harrison Burrows' cross a minute before the break had Hull hearts in mouths before it was cleared to safety by John Egan.

After an intriguing second-half kick-off from the Irish defender, McBurnie almost turned home his second after a low Belloumi cross was deflected into his path, before McGuinness' vital touch saw it behind for a corner.

Brooks continued to impress out wide for the Blades, with an inch-perfect tackle from Paddy McNair 10 minutes into the second period denying the winger from playing in Bamford across the six-yard box.

After a period of sustained pressure from the hosts, City had their first chance for some time on 62 minutes as Crooks picked out Millar, but the winger was unable to fully take the ball under his spell when racing towards the net.

The Tigers continued to withstand pressure from United as the game entered its final stages, and their task was made all the harder when Lundstram was shown a second yellow card by John Brooks for a late challenge on his namesake, Andre, in the middle of the pitch.

They did find themselves in an advanced position with 10 to go, but McBurnie, again, couldn't quite find the desired touch for a crucial second goal from the visitors' perspective.

However, they would be pegged back with five minutes of normal time as Hamer confidently tucked away his penalty after Kyle Joseph was adjudged to have sent Jairo Riedewald to the floor.

The game then turned on its head completely with two minutes of normal time to go, as Ings latched on to Tanganga's low cross in front of the Kop to snatch all three points, using his first touch to work the opening for himself before slotting into the bottom corner.

United have moved up to 16th as a result, whilst Hull have slipped down to sixth in the Championship table after their second defeat in three away matches.

FT: Sheffield United 2-1 Hull City

Player Ratings

Sheffield United

Adam Davies - 6.5

Femi Seriki - 7 (Hoever 63" - 6.5)

Japhet Tanganga - 8.5

Mark McGuinness - 8 (Ings 86" - 7)

Harrison Burrows - 7

Sydie Peck - 6.5 (Riedewald 71" - 6)

Joe Rothwell - 7.5

Andre Brooks - 7

Callum O'Hare - 6.5 (Chong 63" - 6)

Gustavo Hamer - 7.5

Patrick Bamford - 6

Unused Subs: L.Faxon, T.Bindon, L.Hjelde, O.Arblaster, T.Cannon

Hull City

Ivor Pandur - 6

Cody Drameh - 6 (McNair 20" - 6.5)

Semi Ajayi - 7

John Egan - 7

Lewie Coyle - 7

John Lundstram - 5

Amir Hadziahmetovic - 6

Mohamed Belloumi - 7.5 (Joseph 71" - 5.5)

Matt Crooks - 7 (Dowell 87" - 6)

Liam Millar - 7.5 (Gelhardt 71" - 6)

Oli McBurnie - 7.5 (Hughes 87" - 6)

Unused Subs: D.Phillips, C.McCarthy, M.Jacob, D.Gyabi

Chris Wilder reacts as Sheffield United stage late comeback v Hull City

Reacting to the Blades' dramatic turnaround, Wilder said: "The game today, I thought it was a good game for us. Full house, a sellout from their fans and pretty much 30,000 there.

"We got off to the worst possible start. They're a team that likes to counter, suck you in and hit you.

And you've got players at the top of the pitch; Oli (McBurnie), Millar, Belloumi, who is a really good player, and Crooks, who I know.

"They've not really had to work off for their opportunities. We've offered them to us and you've seen that," he explained.

"I don't know what their manager said and I really like him and he's done a fabulous job this, this year. I like his personality and I like his team.

"I like the way he's constructed his team through how they play and and yet again, the character and personalities that I know a lot about. But it could have been four or five each at half time. Let's not, you know, let's not be about the bush.

"We had some really good opportunities as well.

"Tighten up at half-time, which we did, drive the game forward in the second half. I know people will be talking about the sending off and people will be talking about the penalty," Wilder continued.

"I know their boys were stood outside their changing room at the end, looking out at a laptop, and I just said I got back two and a half hours of that. Decisions.

"From my point of view, we kept going. We kept knocking on the door, we were better.

" (Andre) Brooks was better 2nd half. We wanted double width off the sides, and I couldn't really take my best player off and we played him in his in a position where a lot of people want him to play in the 10.

"Especially when it went down to 10, um, I thought the introduction of subs were, uh, were good in terms of their impact that they had on the game.

"And, yeah, we find ourselves a winner," the Blades boss concluded.

Sergej Jakirovic reacts as Hull City suffer heartbreak at Bramall Lane

Reacting to the Tigers' collapse in the Steel City, Jakirovic said: It's, for me, unbelievable, because we were the better team.

"We took the lead through Oli McBurnie. We had great contracts, a great bicycle kick from McBurnie, somebody came from the goal line.

And then Mo Belloumi, one which Ivor (Pandur). We felt comfortable there because we didn't feel any threats," he explained.

"Maybe after our (one) corner, they had a great counterattack, but they didn't finish well.

"And then, in the second half, I can split into 2 parts. Lundstram's second yellow, because the reason why he got a yellow was the referee (being) in the way.

"He knows that," Jakirovic claimed. "It's a foul, completely a foul, but you don't need to give a yellow card because you are the reason why he was late on the ball. And then, penalty, I don't know what happened there, because, from my position, I saw six players on the ground.

"You can see every, every game, you can be certain, 10 penalties like this.

And then everything was finished, because it's not easy to manage your emotions, because you know that you were the better team, control everything, and now we go home without anything.

"I think that we deserve at least one point in the end, at least. Until this sending off, 3 points, it's ours.

"If we play like this, I don't have any worries because we play a good game, 18 shots against Sheffield United (who are) at home. It's very good," he added.

Attendance

The attendance at Bramall Lane this afternoon was 27,850, including approximately 2,800 Hull City supporters.