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Men’s Football ‘Tinge of disappointment’ for Wilder as Blades fail to beat Brighton

SHEFFIELD UNITED missed the chance to move into fifth as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton and Hove Albion at Bramall Lane.

Enda Stevens’s stunning opener was cancelled out quickly by Neal Maupay, and while they witnessed their team reach the “magic” 40-point mark, supporters will have gone home frustrated that they couldn’t break down the strong Seagulls rearguard.

Chris Wilder insists he isn’t too downhearted by the result, claiming his players gave everything they had.

“It’s only a very, very slight tinge of disappointment, that’s all that is,” he said. 

“The players couldn’t have given me anything more and couldn’t have done anything more. The drive was brilliant.

“It was disappointing, obviously, to concede after going in front. We found a way two weeks ago against Bournemouth but unfortunately today we couldn’t find a way.

“I thought we moved the ball around really well and I enjoyed watching my team play. I said to the players I was absolutely delighted with what I saw. A draw doesn’t hurt me at all.”

The Blades started on the front foot. Billy Sharp could have given them the lead within a couple of minutes, but fired wide from a tight angle in the box.

Brighton’s gameplan appeared to be to sit deep and disrupt the home side’s rhythm. Yves Bissouma and Davy Propper were both booked, while the former had a tentative effort at goal, forcing Dean Henderson into a low save.

Sheffield United went ahead when a corner was only cleared as far as Stevens, who controlled the ball brilliantly before rifling a shot into the roof of the net.

Just four minutes later, on the half hour mark, Maupay headed home Lewis Dunk’s flick on from Aaron Mooy’s free-kick to level it up again.

Brighton should have turned the game on its head in the first five minutes of the second half. Maupay won a corner with a seemingly innocuous shot from distance, from which Shane Duffy hooked a shot over the bar on the turn.

John Fleck, who had barely been in the game on the day that he signed a new contract, dragged a shot wide as Sheffield United looked to force the issue. The feeling of tension, on the pitch and in the stands, was refusing to subside.

As the hour approached, Oli McBurnie failed to convert from a corner as a scramble ensued, before getting involved in a move which culminated in another Fleck effort. Again, though, he missed the target.

John Egan headed over for the hosts, but not until after a VAR check for a handball against Ben Osborn, who had replaced goalscorer Stevens at half-time, in the area. It lasted a matter of seconds, before Stockley Park decided against awarding a penalty.

Another Blades substitute, John Lundstram, went under VAR review for a tackle on Dunk, but again the decision was in their favour and no red card was given.

The home side’s best chance went begging in the dying embers. McBurnie failed to connect with a cross, before Mat Ryan saved from George Baldock to sum up a rather awkward afternoon in the Steel City.

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