Sheffield United ease past Bristol City and into Championship play-off final by record margin
(aggregate 6-0)
Sheffield United are one win away from ending their play-off hoodoo after booking their place in the Sky Bet Championship final with a record-breaking semi-final demolition of Bristol City.
The Blades will meet Sunderland or Coventry at Wembley after a 6-0 aggregate victory over the Robins – the biggest winning margin in Championship play-off semi-final history.
After doing the heavy lifting in Thursday's first leg at Ashton Gate, where they won 3-0, they finished the job on home soil thanks to goals from Kieffer Moore, Gus Hamer and Callum O'Hare.
They will be hoping it is 10th time lucky, having lost in their previous nine play-off encounters, which has included three Championship finals.
None of those have been under boss Chris Wilder, though, and he is eyeing a third promotion with his boyhood club.
For long parts of the season it looked like the Blades would go up automatically until Leeds and Burnley ran away with it, but they regrouped well in time for the play-off semi-finals and can now turn their attention to Wembley in 12 days time.
This was a bridge too far for Bristol City and they were unable to repair the damage from Thursday's first leg against a team they finished 22 points behind in the league.
The Robins had no option other than to go for it in the early stages as they tried to make inroads to their first-leg deficit.
George Earthy flashed an effort just wide in just the second minute before Republic of Ireland midfielder Jason Knight tested goalkeeper Michael Cooper with a low effort from distance.
But the Blades held firm and as the first half wore on they began to take control.
In the 34th minute Andre Brooks could not connect with Hamer's cross while Harrison Burrows saw a deflected effort fizz just wide.
And a promising spell of pressure was rewarded when the hosts went in front to well and truly kill the tie.
Moore was the man who inflicted the damage, heading Burrows' corner past Irish-qualified Max O'Leary from close range.
Hamer made it 2-0 on the night shortly as a clever corner routine saw him with time and space on the edge of the area, with his shot deflecting off Haydon Roberts.
Tyrese Campbell almost made it 3-0 shortly after coming off the bench when he fizzed an effort just wide and as the Blades wanted to make it a night to remember.
Another substitute, O'Hare, got on the scoresheet in the 83rd minute with a fine goal. Campbell burst down the left, Burrows cleverly stepped over his cross, allowing O'Hare to sweep home.
It meant the night ended in celebration for the Blades, who paid an emotional tribute to their former player George Baldock, following his tragic death in October after drowning in a swimming pool in Greece.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
13 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Birthday boy Heimir Hallgrimsson critical of Ireland display v Luxembourg
Heimir Hallgrimsson refused to sugarcoat Ireland's lacklustre effort in Luxembourg that soured his birthday celebrations. The visitors' performance in the scoreless draw bore the hallmarks of an end of season display with nothing on the line but, for the manager, the scoreless draw simply wasn't good few of the Ireland players rose above the torpid, scrappy nature of the the World Cup qualifiers kicking off with a home game against Hungary in exactly three months time, followed by the away clash with Armenia three days later, this international window didn't end the way Hallgrimsson wanted after the encouraging 1-1 draw against Senegal in Dublin."Let's be honest, we're not happy with this performance," he said afterwards. "It's good to keep a clean sheet but we all felt that in the first half we were sloppy - the game was boring in the first half."All the good things we did against Senegal were missing, all the quick movement, the press, the ball speed - so sloppy, we changed in the second half, more tempo, more duels etc."But not good enough. We always like answers to questions and this one is a negative one, so we at least know that. We go in September and play the higher ranked team first, like we did now, and then the lower ranked team away."So this is definitely something that we can learn from. We must play the same way against everyone, whether it's a friendly at the end of season or a group stage game, we need to play the same way all the time."Asked if the display had stalled his team's momentum, Hallgrimsson disagreed. Instead, he insisted, it is a lesson learned. "It is understandable that players are thinking after this game we have a break for some time, a lot of these players have been playing a lot of matches," said the Icelander."But credit to them, and you saw there were a few injuries from fatigue, so no, they were probably a bit careful at the end of the season as well, they don't want to start injured in the new season."We had some chances but still even if we won the game we wouldn't be happy with the performance. We must look at the performance first."On the plus side, Bristol City's goalkeeper Max O'Leary made his debut and produced a couple of important saves, while John Patrick Finn also made his first Ireland appearance off the bench."Max O'Leary comes in and keeps a clean sheet so we can always find something positive," Hallgrimsson said, before quickly returning to the reality of the performance. But first and foremost, the effort that we put into this game was so much less than against Senegal." Midfielder Jason Knight commented: "It's been a long season, I think you saw it in a lot of the lads out there. It's time to have a rest now. Definitely things to improve but overall a decent camp and now everyone's looking forward to September."
Irish Daily Mirror
43 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Ireland fans laugh at 'hilarious' England loss to Senegal
A number of Irish fans took to social media as they took joy in England's 'hilarious' loss to Senegal on Tuesday night. Just days after Ireland were unlucky not to win against the African side, England suffered a 3-1 drubbing at the City Ground. It looked like it would be a formality for the Three Lions after Harry Kane opened the scoring just seven minutes in, but Senegal would flip the script when Ismaila Sarr scored the equaliser five minutes before the break. Habib Diarra put Senegal in front shortly after the hour mark, and a 93rd-minute insurance goal rubbed salt in England's wounds. And Irish fans were happy to mock their neighbours after their shock loss. "That is hilarious, even Ireland didn't lose to Senegal,' said one social media user. "ireland went head to head with Senegal, unlucky lads," said another. "England lose to Senegal, Republic of Ireland draw with Senegal... Ireland > England," joked another. Unfortunately for Ireland fans, the gloating could not be taken to extremes after they drew 0-0 against Luxembourg in a drab affair. On the same day that he turned 58, boss Heimir Hallgrimsson was not given another birthday present from his squad after they put together a tepid display. The best chance of the game undoubtedly fell to Jack Taylor who saw his effort denied by the crossbar while Troy Parrott's second-half finish was ruled out for offside. For Ireland, all eyes are fixed towards September with a double-header against Hungary and Armenia while England will be looking to bring some better form into that window too following their loss to Senegal and narrow win over Andorra.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Ireland 0 Luxembourg 0: How the Irish players rated
16: Max O'Leary (Bristol City) Needed a second chance to get hold of a cross in the 13th minute but just before the half-hour mark O'Leary made an impressive diving save high to his left to deny a goal-bound Sinani shot. Used his feet to block a near-post effort in the second half. A solid international debut. Rating: 7 5: Jake O'Brien (Everton) Suffered a bang to his head late on in what was an otherwise largely uneventful game for O'Brien. He tried to get up the field when Ireland were in possession but so much about this encounter felt like an end of season affair. Rating: 6 22: Nathan Collins (Brentford) Captained Ireland on the night and despite some scrappy defending by the team at times, they finished with a clean sheet. Collins went close to scoring with a first-half header but his effort hit the woodwork. Rating: 6 4: Dara O'Shea (Ipswich Town) Showed good positioning and decision-making when heading Smallbone's free back across the face of the goal for Ireland's best goalscoring chance in the first half – only for Collins to be denied by the woodwork. Rating: 6 READ MORE 11: Robbie Brady (Preston North End) He was forced off injured after just 20 minutes, a disappointing end to what was a positive season for Brady in green. Brady pulled a free short from a decent crossing position early on. Rating: 4 17: Kasey McAteer (Leicester City) Showed good endeavour early in the second half to get on the end of a goalscoring opportunity but his left-footed shot bounced wide of the right post. Was full of workrate and ambition throughout, though his finishing wasn't on point. Rating: 6 8: Jason Knight (Bristol City) He got back well to put his body in the way and make an important block on a close-range shot from Jans in the opening stages of the second half, the Luxembourg captain's shot hitting Knight and ricocheting out for a corner. Worked hard all night to try energise Ireland. Rating: 6 Ireland's Killian Phillips and Jason Knight. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho 24: Killian Phillips (St Mirren, on loan from Crystal Palace) It has been a very encouraging few days for Phillips, who built on his first Ireland appearance in the draw with Senegal by earning his maiden start in this game. But like most of his team-mates, struggled to make an impact in a low-tempo contest. Rating: 5 6: Will Smallbone (Southampton) The Southampton midfielder whipped in a lovely weighted pass from a free late in the first half and it created Ireland's best scoring chance in the opening period, O'Shea nodding the ball back across the face of the goal where Collins headed against the woodwork. Rating: 6 9: Evan Ferguson (West Ham United, on loan from Brighton) He struggled to carry any real attacking threat in what was a lacklustre fixture. The Meath man was booked for a foul on Carlson, which prevented a Luxembourg breakaway midway through the second half. Ferguson was taken off with 15 minutes to go. Rating: 5 7: Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar) The Dubliner had something of a running battle with Korac and won two frees early on after the Luxembourg defender was forced to drag him down. Battled well and produced a lovely dinked finish for a goal that was correctly ruled offside in the 66th minute. Rating: 7 Subs: Ryan Manning (Southampton); Jack Taylor (Ipswich Town); Festy Ebosele (Istanbul Basaksehir); Adam Idah (Celtic); Matt Doherty (Wolves); John Patrick (Stade De Reims) Manning was busy and made a very positive impact after his introduction. Ebosele and Taylor combined to create a good goalscoring chance soon after they came off the bench. Taylor also smacked the crossbar with a rasping shot late on. Doherty made an important late interception. Rating: 7 Manager: Heimir Hallgrímsson On what was his 58th birthday, Hallgrímsson was at least able to celebrate Ireland getting through this international window unbeaten. This match will not last long in the memory but over the course of the two games he did at least get to have a look at some new players in green. Rating: 6
