Sheffield United 1-0 Watford: O’Hare Proves to be Match Winner Once Again For the Blades | OneFootball

Sheffield United picked up their first home win of the campaign against Watford which moved the Blades off the bottom of the Championship table.

Callum O’Hare was on hand to tap the ball into an empty net on the goal line a minute before the stroke of the hour mark, proving to be the only goal of the game.

Chris Wilder was forced into a change to the lineup as news broke that Gustavo Hamer suffered a knee injury, this saw Louie Barry back into the left-winger spot, with Djibril Soumare also replacing Alex Matos.

Lineups

Blades: Cooper, Tanganga, McCallum (Burrows 67), O’Hare, Mee, Soumaré (Riedewald 67), Ogbene (Shackleton 82), Campbell (Ings 67), McGuinness, Barry (Brooks 56), Peck.

Unused: A. Davies, Bindon, Cannon, Shackleton, Matos.

Watford: Selvik, Ngakia, Keben, Kyprianou, Pollock, Kjerrumgaard, Louza, Sissoko (Vata 73), Wiley (Bola 60), Kayembe (Ince 60), Irankunda (Baah 60).

Unused: Baxter, Alleyne, Ince, Vata, Bola, Doumbia, N. Mendy, F. Mendy, Baah.

First Half

Moments before Bramall Lane rose to mark the first anniversary of George Baldock’s passing, Sheffield United were already in the ascendancy. Sam McCallum went closest early on, his dipping effort narrowly clearing the crossbar, before Imran Louza tried his luck from distance at the other end with an equally wayward strike.

United looked sharp from set-pieces throughout the first half. After a couple of near misses at the back post, Watford’s goalkeeper Egil Selvik was called into action, getting down smartly to turn away a towering header from Mark McGuinness. Fellow centre-back Japhet Tanganga also went close before the interval, his header clawed away by the Norwegian stopper in the final opportunity of the half.

Second Half

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 18: Callum O’Hare of Sheffield United gestures with a thumbs up after the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United and Watford at Bramall Lane on October 18, 2025 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Kate McShane/Getty Images)

The Hornets came out stronger after the restart and could have taken the lead within minutes. On-loan full-back Caleb Wiley surged down the left but blazed his shot wide of the near post, letting United off the hook.

Shortly after, Keben went into the book for a late challenge, and McCallum almost made Watford pay from the resulting free-kick, forcing Selvik into another sharp save down to the bottom right-hand corner.

The breakthrough finally arrived in the 59th minute. Tyrese Campbell’s low drive was parried by Selvik, but Andre Brooks reacted quickest to square across goal from the left, where Callum O’Hare arrived on the line to tap home and send Bramall Lane into celebration.

Chris Wilder wasted no time freshening things up, introducing Jairo Riedewald for his debut alongside Danny Ings and Harrison Burrows just after the hour mark. Watford responded with a triple change of their own, bringing on Tom Ince, Kwadwo Baah and Marc Bola in search of an equaliser.

The visitors pressed hard late on and were inches away from levelling when Louza crashed a shot against the crossbar from inside the box with just five minutes remaining.

Sheffield United now climb up to 23rd place and they head to 22nd placed Blackburn Rovers in midweek.