Rotherham United vs Sheffield United. Sky Bet Championship.
New York StadiumAttendance11,607.
Spoils shared in pulsating South Yorkshire derby as substitute Jamie Proctor levels in added time.
Saturday 24 November 2018 18:19, UK
Jamie Proctor came off the bench to score a stoppage-time equaliser for Rotherham as they drew 2-2 with Sheffield United in the Sky Bet Championship.
Mark Duffy had put the Blades in front early on, only to see his strike cancelled out by Jon Taylor in the 66th minute.
Chris Basham then looked as though he had given Sheffield United the win that would have sent them top of the table in the 85th minute, but Proctor netted in the second minute of added time to share the spoils.
Rotherham started brighter but it was the Blades who took the lead after eight minutes. Semi Ajayi's sloppy pass was intercepted by Enda Stevens, who slipped the ball to Duffy on the edge of the area. The midfielder still had plenty to do, but he stepped inside his marker before getting into the box and slotting coolly past Marek Rodak in the Rotherham goal.
Sheffield United had another glorious opportunity to double their lead five minutes before the break. Billy Sharp's initial effort following a smartly-worked corner was kept out before the ball fell to David McGoldrick two yards from goal. It appeared as though the net was at his mercy, but somehow Will Vaulks managed to get across to deny him on the line.
And the Blades would pay for that miss midway through the second half when Rotherham levelled. Failing to fully clear a Vaulks cross, the ball only found its way to Taylor on the edge of the box, and his effort took a heavy deflection on its way into the bottom corner.
Sheffield United looked to have claimed all three points five minutes from time when Sharp's cross was headed in at the far post by Basham, but Rotherham would respond again.
Marvin Johnson had been sent on moments earlier to help ensure the win, but he lost the ball needlessly and Rotherham managed to get the ball into the box, where Proctor arrived to slam the ball home.
It's not often a goalkeeper will get this award after conceding twice, but Henderson was imperious between the sticks for Sheffield United and was superb on more than one occasion in denying Rotherham. He could do nothing about either goal.
Paul Warne: "Their goalkeeper was man of the match which speaks volumes.
"I think their dressing room would be happy with a point. At 2-1 it was a bit harsh on us. The lads don't give up. If it's only a one goal deficit you're still in the game. We ask the lads to keep going and if nothing else you give the fans something to be proud of."
Chris Wilder: "There have been a lot of times where we have played really well and not put teams to bed and not got what our performance deserved. We thought it was going to be one of those days where we didn't play well.
"Apart from the goalkeeper I could have made any changes. We changed the shape about three or four times. We could have pulled anyone off at any given time but we managed to find ourselves 2-1 up. The performance was very, very poor but I need to compliment the opposition manager and their players. If I was in their changing room, not getting the win, I would be disappointed."
Both sides are back in Sky Bet Championship action on Tuesday night, live on the Sky Sports red button and mobile app! Sheffield United head to Brentford and Rotherham host QPR.
