Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion at Bramall Lane
Thursday 27 April 2023 11:23, UK
Sheff Utd confirmed their Premier League place next season after a vintage second half earned them a 2-0 win over West Brom to secure second place in the Championship.
The champagne was firmly on ice after an underwhelming first half at Bramall Lane where the Baggies, with promotion hopes of their own, had the better of the play and the chances, and were denied a clear penalty when Jamal Lowe's foul on Brandon Thomas-Asante was ruled to be outside the area.
But after a half-time regroup, the hosts never looked back and had begun to dominate long before Sander Berge fired them ahead 13 minutes into the second period following a poor backpass from Taylor Gardner-Hickman.
It wasn't until the cushion of a second goal, a fine finish from Anel Ahmedhodzic with 15 minutes to go, that Sheffield United could finally begin to dream about their Premier League return after two years, sealed with jubilant celebrations at the full-time whistle with three games left to play.
The maths was simple - three points would do it.
Even without a result against Carlos Corberan's play-off hopefuls, one win from any of Sheff Utd's final three games would have been enough to see them over the line for second place in the Championship, but even before the game, manager Paul Heckingbottom had spoken about wanting to get things sewn up at the first time of asking, and on home soil.
Their start wasn't quite what he had in mind. Within minutes Karlan Grant had bundled an inviting Jed Wallace cross past the post when he should have scored, and soon Thomas-Asante was denied a clear penalty when Lowe went through the back of him, with the referee's view obscured and his assistant unable to help him.
Grant was denied by Wes Foderingham from the resultant free-kick one of few first-half saves at either end, with Sheff Utd left frustrated by their poor performance and the Baggies by their wasteful finishing.
In the end, only one team would end up frustrated by full-time. Heckingbottom's half-time team talk had the desired effect and his newly invigorated side flew out of the blocks straight from the restart. George Baldock's rasping drive was a first sign of danger, but their intensity was tough for the visitors to resist.
Even so, West Brom proved masters of their own downfall. Gardner-Hickman's blind backpass played Ndiaye through, and though Erik Pieters did his best to hold him up, the arrival of Berge made for a tap-in with the right ball, which the Senegal striker delivered on a plate.
Sheff Utd did not let their work-rate drop and continued to push for a second, with Ollie McBurnie denied half a shout of a penalty and John Egan off target with a diving header.
The Blades had looked dangerous from corners ever since the interval and finally found a way through again from the latest in a long line, with a half-cleared delivery struck cleanly on the half-volley by Baldock and turned home expertly from close-range by Ahmedhodzic for his fifth goal of the season.
That killed the match, and the season, as a contest for Sheffield United's rivals for second spot as the full-time whistle brought scenes of joy back to Bramall Lane, less than a year after the Blades' season had ended in play-off heartbreak against Nottingham Forest.
Sheffield United 2-0 West Brom
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