Sheffield United 3-1 Ipswich Town: Blades Stun In-form Tractor Boys At Bramall Lane | OneFootball

Sheffield United saw off the challenge of Ipswich Town with a comfortable 3-1 win at Bramall Lane on Saturday afternoon.

Callum O’Hare started the scoring when he raced through on goal and delicately lifted the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper who eventually clattered into him. Moments later United struck again, this time through Andre Brooks. After a couple of saves, the ball fell to Brooks on the edge of the box and his strike took a slight deflection to help it over the line.

The Tractor Boys were handed a lifeline when the referee spotted an apparent handball in the Blades box, Jack Clarke stepped up and confidently dispatched the penalty. Patrick Bamford then increased his tally for the campaign with a delightful left-footed finish from an acute angle, but the captain for the day was later shown a second yellow card when the ref thought he dived to try and win a penalty for the home side.

Lineups

Blades: Cooper, McCallum, Hamer (Cannon 72), O’Hare, Brooks (Hoever 87), Mee, T. Davies (Arblaster 63), McGuinness, Seriki, Peck, Bamford.

Unused: A. Davies, Burrows, Campbell, Chong, Matos, Sasnauskas.

Ipswich: Walton, Kipre (Davis 56), Matusiwa, Egeli (Mehmeti 71), Hirst (Azon 56), Taylor (Cajuste 71), Furlong, Szmodics (Burns 56), Greaves, O’Shea, Clarke.

Unused: Palmer, Johnson, McAteer, Baggott.

First Half

Patrick Bamford celebrating his goal to put Sheffield United 3-1 up against Ipswich Town. (Image Credit: Sheffield United Football Club).

The opening 15 minutes were played at a frantic pace, with both sides benefiting from defensive lapses at either end. Clarke was first to threaten, firing over at the back post after a deflected Darnell Furlong cross from the right dropped invitingly into his path. Moments later, a weak back pass from Ben Mee gifted Egeli a sight of goal, but United goalkeeper Michael Cooper advanced quickly to smother the danger, conceding only a corner.

Sloppiness continued to define the early exchanges. At the other end, Jacob Greaves under-hit his own back pass, allowing Andre Brooks to pounce, though Christian Walton reacted sharply to deny the winger. The Blades stayed on the front foot, with Dara O’Shea required to clear Callum O’Hare’s goal-bound effort off the line to keep the scores level.

Ipswich responded through George Hirst, whose shot was well saved by Cooper after Clarke had been released down the left. The United number one was then forced into another fine stop, beating away a driven effort from Sammie Szmodics for a corner. That moment proved pivotal.

From the resulting set-piece, United made the breakthrough. Mee hacked the initial danger clear, but Clarke inadvertently redirected the ball into the path of Gustavo Hamer. The midfielder needed no second invitation, producing an expertly weighted pass to release O’Hare, who calmly finished to open the scoring.

United doubled their advantage in stoppage time at the end of the first half. Walton initially parried efforts from both Patrick Bamford and Femi Seriki, but Brooks reacted quickest to the loose ball, firing home to give the Blades a commanding 2-0 lead at the interval.

Second Half

After the restart, Cooper remained busy, producing a sharp save to deny Clarke’s volley as Ipswich looked for a route back into the contest. Their opportunity arrived on the stroke of the hour when a McGuinness handball was spotted by the referee. Clarke stepped up and confidently converted from the penalty spot to halve the deficit.

Any hopes of a comeback were swiftly extinguished. Once again, Hamer was the architect, delivering a sumptuous first-time pass that split the defence, allowing Bamford to finish with composure and restore United’s two-goal cushion.

Frustration began to creep into Ipswich’s play, and it culminated late on when United’s number 45 was booked for dissent following a soft free kick. That caution proved costly six minutes from time, as he received a second yellow card for alleged simulation while rounding Walton, ending any lingering resistance.