West Brom 1 Sheffield United 0: Conor Gallagher strikes to earn Baggies first win and leave toothless Blades bottom
SATURDAY night curses were supposed to belong to Strictly Come Dancing – but try telling that to Chris Wilder!
George Baldock and Lys Mousset looked as if they had two left feet as they wasted a couple of glorious chances after the break which would have earned the Blades a crucial point.
Instead Conor Gallagher earned Baggies a crucial win with his first ever Premier goal, one week after he was controversially denied a penalty at Old Trafford.
His stunning first half strike took Baggies out of the bottom three but left United rooted to the foot of the table with just one point.
The fewest points a club has had after 10 games and survived, stands at three!
It’s now 13 matches without a win for Wilder – a new club low – as Gallagher’s 13th minute goal was enough to settle this bruising basement battle.
A prime time slot on Saturday night TV seemed a bizarre bit of scheduling by the movers and shakers at Sky Sports.
Yet here we were with two of the three lowest-scoring clubs in the Premier League going toe-to-toe with Strictly, which must have led to a few interesting conversations in split households.
“Let me get this straight, you want me to miss Strictly, so you can watch West Brom and Sheffield United… West Brom who haven’t scored in their last six games?
“Absolutely no Cha-cha chance!”
It takes two to Tango but this pair hadn’t exactly sizzled this season, scoring a pitiful 10 goals between them in 18 games – for a combined total of four Premier points from a possible 54.
However, this turned out to be a belter of a game.
This was no tippy-tappy affair for the purists. On a raw night in the Midlands we were treated to some raw meat football, full-blooded, high octane, played at breakneck pace.
Ollie Burke should have scored in the opening minute but slipped as he prepared to pull the trigger to let his old club off the hook.
Branislav Ivanovic was booked for smashing Oli McBurnie to the turf and Baggies were well off the pace as John Fleck flashed a shot just wide, then George Baldock missed a snip when his shot from a Burke cutback was blocked by Conor Gallagher.
The Blades were taking no prisoners and Norwood was booked for a reckless high lunge on Gallagher.
But the Baggies midfielder dusted himself down and hit the visitors were it really hurt by firing Albion in front as he chose the perfect time to break his Premier League duck.
Sander Berge made a hash of clearing Matheus Pereira’s near post corner, stabbing it out to the edge of the box where Gallagher met it with a controlled right foot shot which found the corner of the net.
It was a fitting payback one week after Gallagher was denied a stonewall penalty at Old Trafford after Bruno Fernandez had tripped him.
United responded swiftly and Burke cursed Sam Johnstone for defying him with a stunning reflex save to touch over the Scot’s flashing header.
However Albion were now bossing midfield with magician Matheus Pereira pulling the strings. The Brazilian fizzed a shot just wide before terrorising Ramsdale with a series of wicked crosses and corners.
After fumbling the first, Ramsdale atoned by bravely blocking Karlan Grant’s shot with his chest, before Baldock cleared the rebound off the line.
McBurnie then sent a header into the turf, allowing Johnstone to save before Ramsdale frantically clawed another Pereira corner to safety as it threatened to curl in at the near post.
The Blades No.1 produced another important save to get down to a Bartley header the either side of the break and Chris Wilder decided to send on Rhian Brewster for Norwood, then John Lundstram for Kean Bryan.
However he must have feared his luck was out yet again when Burke slipped in Baldock who really should have side-footed home.
Instead, he lost his cool and blazed the ball over.
And in the last of seven minutes of added time Mousset did the same from three yards to compound Wilder’s woe.