Late Blades goal sinks toothless Wolves
Sheffield United 1 v Wolverhampton Wanderers 0
Imagine for a moment that it is Saturday 7th March 2020. You have just returned home from the Molineux where events on the pitch had been remarkably dull. Visitors Brighton came with one intention. To park the bus. They had duly parked it and the ensuing goalless draw has left you tired and listless. You retire to your bed and take a Rip Van Winkle power nap.
Three months later you wake to find that all is not as it should be. The roads appear remarkably quiet. In the sky above not a vapour trail can be seen. Every now and again a family unit wanders by. But it’s a Tuesday in June. Surely their children should be at school. One or two of those out and about are wearing masks whilst others push wheelbarrows full of toilet rolls. Turn on the radio and words such as furlough, social distancing, lockdown, track and trace, bubble and government incompetence form part of the lexicon of a new and unfamiliar language. Even the Archers has been ruined, though some might argue that that’s not a bad thing. In the world of work colleagues are holding virtual meetings via a thing called Zoom and giving due thought to which bookcase will provide that gravitas enhancing backdrop. And for the first time in its history the BBC is airing live Premier League football. But other than the team officials and the odd ball boy, the stadia are empty. What on earth is going on?
What on earth indeed. Welcome to the world of Covid 19 and “the new normal” whatever that means. When will the old normal of attending a football ground to watch a live game return? Who knows. So for the time being we must make do with wall to wall TV coverage of practice games with canned crowd noise.
And since the return of that wall to wall TV coverage somewhat inevitably Liverpool advanced to their first league title in thirty years. As for Wolves they started PL Part Deux with a bang, winning their opening three games in fine style until a revitalised Arsenal tempered dreams of Champions League Football with a 2-0 home defeat. Yet hopes of an immediate bounce back against a highly organised Sheffield United were sadly forlorn, as an injury time winner from John Egan consigned Wolves to a second defeat in a row.
On reflection it was not entirely unexpected. After a first half in which Wolves edged affairs, come the second they were invariably second best. The first sign that it was not going to be an easy ride came in minute 52 when Billy Sharp’s fine strike found the back of the Wolves net only for it to be correctly judged offside. Then in minute 76 George Baldock beat Jonny to the ball on the six yard box, only to watch in anguish as his header bounced wide. And just before the winning goal, the Wolves defence was at sixes and sevens as Ben Osborn’s scuffed shot was bundled away for a corner.
As for Wolves, a lack of pace and intent produced just a single attempt on target. Furthermore in a game that we needed to win the decision to replace Adama Traore, just as he was starting to cause a few problems, appeared odd (although it was later confirmed that he had dislocated his shoulder). In mitigation the squad is relatively small and it’s been a long season – 55 games and counting since the first outing twelve months ago. But losing at the death against a side whom they should better 7 times out of 10 was to say the least like a kick in the solar plexus.
Sheffield United: Henderson 6, Basham 6, Egan 8, O’Connell 7, Baldock 6, Berge 6, Norwood 6, Osborn 7, Stevens 6, McBurnie 6 Sub Mousset, Sharp 6 Sub Zickovic
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Patricio 6, Boly 6, Coady 6, Saiss 6, Doherty 6, Jonny 6, Neves 6, Moutinho 6, Traore 6 Sub Dendoncker, Jota 6, Jimenez 6
Attendance: 0
Referee: Martin Atkinson 9
©Mark Brennand