Sheffield United 1-0 Wigan Athletic: Iliman Ndiaye takes Blades another step closer to promotion

A first-half goal from Iliman Ndiaye gave Sheffield United a crucial 1-0 win against Wigan in the Championship.

Ndiaye's eighth-minute strike settled a game full of goalmouth action at Bramall Lane which ended with Wigan still rooted to the bottom of the Championship table with just six games remaining to rescue their season.

Blades boss Paul Heckingbottom made two changes to the team that won 1-0 at Norwich, with Jayden Bogle and Billy Sharp joining the starting XI.

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Wigan manager Shaun Maloney made just the one switch from the home victory against QPR, with Thelo Aasgaard coming in for the injured Danel Sinani.

The home side were in control early on and quickly took the lead. James McAtee ran at the Wigan defence and squared across the box for Ndiaye to tap in at the back post.

Captain Sharp would have made it two on the half volley if not for an excellent point blank save by Ben Amos.

McAtee then found himself through on goal but Wigan skipper Tendayi Darikwa came steaming in at the last moment and did brilliantly to stop him from pulling the trigger.

Ndiaye deserved a second after his mazy run but midfielder James McClean was there to block his effort off the line.

In the second half, the Latics nearly levelled the scores but Aasgaard's header was met by a top reaction save from Wes Foderingham.

Callum Lang may have done better with his header from Max Power's corner and Ashley Fletcher then nodded over with a quarter of an hour to play as the away side looked to pile on the pressure.

United struggled to create any clear cut chances in the second period despite the introduction of top scorer Oliver McBurnie.

Fellow substitute John Fleck looked to have been pulled down in Wigan's penalty area but referee Andy Davies waved away the claims.

Wigan brought on Will Keane and Josh Magennis in an attempt to find an equaliser but ultimately they could not find one as the Blades took another step towards promotion back to the Premier League.

The managers

Sheffield United's Paul Heckingbottom:

"I know people might have been expecting us to roll Wigan over but they showed a lot of fight and energy. They worked for each other and they don't seem fazed by the position they're in. Iliman (Ndiaye) won us the game and he's had some criticism off me in recent weeks. I felt he hasn't been in the six-yard box enough or getting enough shots away.

"Keeping hold of the ball and taking players on comes naturally to him. Sprinting 40 yards to get a tap-in doesn't so we're delighted with his goal from our point of view. He's growing up and playing with maturity. He's carrying himself like he feels he belongs here. If teams around us drop points it's a bonus but we don't focus on results elsewhere. As long as we keep winning and making that margin of error even finer for them we don't have to worry about anything else."

Wigan's Shaun Maloney:

"Sheffield United put us under a lot of pressure in the first 10 minutes and we were disappointed to concede so early. After that, I was really happy. I thought we started to control the ball and we defended our box very well. We needed bits of luck at times but the players played through the pressure.

"United have some high profile players but I think we went toe to toe. Their talent took over at times and they created chances but we dealt with it. We knew they would have chances but we did come here thinking we could win. At this stage of the season it's about how clinical you are and that's our only disappointment."

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