Sheffield United 2 Wolves 1 - Report

The visitors dominated the first half and created several openings, without truly testing the Blades goal.

But a game of two halves swung the momentum in United’s favour as Wolves struggled to keep the ball and keep the hosts at bay.

Former Villa forward Cameron Archer finally cashed in on United’s pressure with a 72nd minute goal and they looked set for their first win of the season.

But Jean-Ricner Bellegarde popped up with an 89th minute equaliser and thought he had salvaged a point for Wolves.

However, substitute Fabio Silva fouled George Baldock deep into added time to hand Oliver Norwood the chance to win it at the death – which he took.

Analysis

Gary O’Neil made two changes as Wolves lined-up in a 4-4-1-1 formation.

Tommy Doyle and Sasa Kalajdzic came in for their first league starts of the season, in replace of Boubacar Traore and the injured Pedro Neto.

With a rowdy crowd at Bramall Lane, Wolves almost silenced them early on after a superb Max Kilman pass released Matheus Cunha down the right. His low ball across goal was begging for a touch, but Kalajdzic was short of it.

Another forward passage of play then resulted in Nelson Semedo skewing a shot wide, as Wolves looked for the opener.

Wolves were in control, as the hosts allowed them sustained possession, but the onus was on Wolves to create clear opportunities. A lovely move then saw Hwang Hee-chan put Cunha through, who had his shot saved by Wes Foderingham.

The visitors should have taken the lead after 33 minutes when Hwang cut inside and had a huge chance to shoot. He was tackled at the last moment, before the ball fell to Rayan Ait-Nouri, but it bounced off him and behind with the goal at his mercy.

Semedo then had a big chance to shoot but instead chose to look for Kalajdzic, in a big missed opportunity.

Wolves were dominating possession and toying with their opponents, but could not find the opening goal as they entered half-time drawing 0-0.

In the opening minute of the second half, Archer found some space and directed a shot over the bar and onto the roof of the net. From the resulting goal-kick, a Jose Sa mistake handed United possession but Ait-Nouri did well to recover.

Wolves were struggling to clear their lines as United piled on the pressure, forcing more shots in the opening stages than they did in the first half.

With a view of getting a grip on the game, Kalajdzic was replaced after an hour as Bellegarde made his return from injury.

After 72 minutes, Wolves were punished for their poor defending and lack of control over the game, when United took the lead. A ricochet put Archer through on goal and his shot from distance crashed in off the underside of the bar.

Wolves were still unable to get into the game and brought Silva on for Toti in an attacking move after 80 minutes to try and salvage a point.

Finally, in the 89th minute, a change paid off. The ball fell to Bellegarde inside the box and his shot took a deflection before finding the top corner.

A late VAR check for a possible United penalty from a Lemina handball did not result in a spot kick.

Both sides pushed for a winner in a frantic six minutes of added time and in the 97th minute, substitute Silva fouled Baldock to give away a penalty.

A long VAR check did not overturn it, despite it being similar to the incident against Wolves last season, and Norwood stepped up in the 99th minute to win the game.

Key Moments

GOAL 72 Archer fires United ahead

GOAL 89 Bellegarde equalises for Wolves

GOAL 99 Norwood wins it for United

Teams

Wolves: Sa, Semedo, Kilman, Dawson, Toti (Silva, 80), Ait-Nouri, Doyle (Traore, 70), Lemina, Hwang, Cunha, Kalajdzic (Bellegarde, 60).

Subs not used: Bentley, S.Bueno, Jonny, Doherty, Gomes, Sarabia.

Sheffield United: Foderingham, Bogle, Trusty, Robinson, Thomas, Baldock, Souza, Norwood, Hamer (Osborn, 90), Archer, Brewster (McAtee, 45).

Subs not used: Amissah, Fleck, Traore, Slimane, Larouci, Osula, Brooks.