Manchester United vs Sheffield United result: Five things we learned as Blades shock Red Devils

Man Utd 1-2 Sheff Utd: Bryan and Maguire traded headed goals before Burke’s deflected strike won it

Manchester United suffered a shock home defeat to Sheffield United, losing 2-1 in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

The first big opening of the game saw Blades striker Billy Sharp run through on goal, but David De Gea saved the one-on-one with his feet. Moments later Mason Greenwood almost got in at the other end, but was forced wide before he could shoot.

Sheffield United opened the scoring with Kean Bryan heading in from a corner midway through the half, with Anthony Martial’s finish at the other end disallowed as the whistle had already gone for a dubious foul on Aaron Ramsdale.

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Harry Maguire scored his first United goal on home soil with a powerful header just after the hour mark to equalise,  but Oliver Burke fired a deflected effort in off the crossbar to put the Blades in front again with 15 minutes to play and produce the biggest upset of the season so far.

Here are five things we learned from the game at Old Trafford.

Endeavour and movement

For parts of this game, although the home United had the possession and the expectancy of victory, the gap between the two was huge in an unexpected way: effort, and intent.

The Blades worked tremendously hard, in total contrast to their limp showing against Spurs recently, while their counter-attacks were rapid, direct and with a clear intention of dribbling straight at the Man United defenders.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team, at the other end of the scale, were listless and ponderous on the ball, knowing they had the better players but not seeming to have the guile or speed about their play to make it count.

It might have been expected that the Blades wilted after conceding for 1-1, but instead it was United who were the more sloppy to gift the next goal.

Greenwood’s step forward

Mason Greenwood was a breakout star last season, but as stuttered somewhat this term.

That’s utterly to be expected, as a youngster in a team performing at the top level with expectations of consistency, but his absence from the line-up of late left United with an imbalance at times on the right flank.

The teenager was back in the side here and, while not at his very finest level, he definitely had more of an impact on United’s attacking play in an otherwise stodgy first half.

Three times in the first half-hour he either ran behind the defence or found space to shoot from range, while a powerful run early in the second half saw him drill a right-footed effort across goal. He was subbed on 65 minutes to allow Edinson Cavani an entrance, but in truth this was a sub on youth and standing, not performance level - he was a better attacking outlet than both Martial and Marcus Rashford at that stage.

Awesome Ampadu

Ethan Ampadu (left) battles for the ball with Bruno Fernandes (Getty Images)

Sheffield United had several impressive performers, though of course the manager will point to the importance of the unit as a whole functioning in the way he hoped.

At the back though, two at opposite ends of their careers were excellent: Phil Jagielka, 38, and Ethan Ampadu, 20. The veteran’s only real moment where he came off second-best was in losing Harry Maguire for a bullet-like header into the bottom corner; the on-loan Welsh youngster made no such costly errors.

He was fantastic defensively, clearing plenty from the edge of the area and making a couple of well-timed tackles, but his rampaging run forward from one box to the other was also memorable.

It didn’t lead to a chance, but relieved the pressure on his team and served as a reminder of his midfield-playing capacities too.

United’s big two

For most of the season, Bruno Fernandes has been the man in the middle winning points and burying penalties for Manchester United. Recently, Paul Pogba has taken over the game-changing mantle, securing victories against Burnley and Fulham in the past few games.

During those same two fixtures, and again against Liverpool, Fernandes fell short: on the periphery, threatening only from range or with one killer pass if given space, largely frustrated. Four league games in succession, he has failed to be the one to spark United into life.

That’s perfectly fine and acceptable - but they need somebody else to. Pogba couldn’t raise his own game this time out either, and there were few clear chances created as a result.

Top and bottom

A draw here would have taken United level on points with City at the top; a win would have put them two clear having played a game more.

After four home league wins from the last five - the other a goalless draw in the Manchester derby - nobody would have had any other kind of result as plausible.

A thoroughly unexpected defeat hands advantage to their rivals in the various chases that teams have identified behind closed doors, be they of titles of top-four finishes.

As for the Blades - this might have been the shock of the season for individual results, but it only makes their abomination of a campaign all the more stark.

They are up to eight points, 0.4 per game won on average, and even if a measly total of 32 points is required to avoid the drop, they still have to win eight of their last 18 games - quite the effort after winning two in 20. This is a result to build on, but not one which offers hope of salvation.