Winning 2-1, Sheffield United Tackled Manchester United's Ambition To Return To The Top

Manchester United vs Sheffield United (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Sheffield United tackled Manchester United's ambition to return to the top of the Premier League standings after a surprise 2-1 win on a trip to Old Trafford Stadium for Matchday 20 on Wednesday local time (Thursday WIB).

As a result of this result, MU, who yesterday was evicted by Manchester City from the top of the standings, must be willing to be stuck in second place in the standings with a collection of 40 points or one point behind their city rivals.

Meanwhile, Sheffield (8), who finally won their second season this season, have not moved from the position of caretaker of the standings, according to Antara's official Premier League website.

MU actually dominated the game from the start and had a chance to open up the lead in the 11th minute when Aaron Wan-Bissaka sent a dangerous tug, but unfortunately Marcus Rashford's first touch shot was off the side of the goal.

Not wanting to be dictated by the hosts, Sheffield was able to steal the lead in the 23rd minute when Kean Bryan overtook goalkeeper David de Gea to welcome John Fleck's cross to head the ball into the United goal.

MU tried to give an instant reply four minutes later, but Mason Greenwood, who got an open firing space, instead fired a shot that was still right into the arms of goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

In the 30th minute, United's players celebrated when Anthony Martial grabbed a wild ball that fell from Ramsdale's possession, but the goal was ruled out because the referee judged Harry Maguire to have fouled Ramsdale.

Four minutes from half-time United created another chance when Alex Telles sent in a low pass but Martial's header was too weak and easy for Ramsdale to secure, so the visitors' advantage lasted until the first half was over.

United trying to bombard the Sheffield defense in the second half were finally able to equalize in the 64th minute when Telles' corner was finished with a header by Maguire to strike the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.

It marked Maguire's first goal at Old Trafford in the Premier League since December 2017, when he was still playing for Leicester City and breaking into the United goal.

Instead of turning to take the lead, MU instead made a mistake when Martial lost possession which led to Sheffield's success in restoring the advantage through Oliver Burke's goal in the 74th minute.

These Bladesmen. ❤️Our first win at Old Trafford since December 1973. 👏 pic.twitter.com/vN8IFWv2q7

- Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) January 27, 2021

Burke's first shot was cleared by the United defense, but the ball was back in the possession of John Lundstram who sent it back to Burke and this time it turned a corner hit by Axel Tuanzebe's body before hitting the underside of the crossbar for the goal that put Sheffield 2-1 up again.

Like when they conceded the first goal, United were almost instantaneous and this time Telles fired a shot that hit Lundstram so that the ball bounced towards the goal, but Ramsdale managed to brush it off to defuse the threat.

MU's efforts to get up never bore fruit and in the end they failed to score another goal until the whistle sounded the game over, locking victory for Sheffield.

The two teams will return to play Saturday, January 30 this weekend for the next match, when Manchester United travel to Arsenal and Sheffield visit City.