The Daily Telegraph - 19.08.2019

Lundstram ends

18-month drought

to give Blades edge

On target: John Lundstram struck

with his first goal in 18 months

On target: John Lundstram struck

with his first goal in 18 months

Sheffield United

Lundstram 47^1

Crystal Palace

0

Att: 30,197

By Luke Edwards

at Bramall Lane

The first month always tends to be

the most enjoyable for teams arriv-

ing in the Premier League, when

everything feels fresh and the eu-

phoria of promotion morphs into

adrenaline at the start of a long

campaign.

Most promoted teams get bogged

down by the grimness of a fight for

survival eventually. Those bleak

midwinter months, spent scrap-

ping for points, scratching and

clawing around for any sort of win,

can be tough – but they can wait.

Sheffield United are not in the

least bit worried after this fully de-

served win over Crystal Palace,

with four points from two games

offering that comforting sensation

they belong where they are.

This is the time to have fun; the

moment to believe, when the only

limitations are the extent of your

own imagination and anything and

everything seems possible. This is

where United find themselves. No

fear, no inferiority complex... yet.

Perhaps there never will be.

Chris Wilder’s side have some-

thing good at their core, a strong

team ethic, unfussy, unflashy, but

collectively driven and cleverly or-

ganised. United are determined to

savour this, and the performance

against Palace came from a team

still high on the buzz of promotion.

They were brighter, sharper and

quicker yesterday. Even a Palace

side with Wilfried Zaha back in

the starting XI were made to look

inferior. “There is a lot of talk about

the first game back in the Premier

League in 12 years,” said Wilder. “A

full house, how passionate and

noisy the supporters were going to

be, but we had to make sure we

married that with a well-balanced

performance.

“We have to prove we belong at

this level. It is early days. Two

games in, we have had a fantastic

start. It is always difficult for estab-

lished Premier League teams to

play the promoted teams early on.

It is never easy to come up against a

team with that newness and mo-

mentum from the previous year.

“For us to get in the division we

have had to win a lot of games. It

was always going to be that sort

of atmosphere. For me, the key

now is, can we take it on? Because

we need to.”

It would have been easy for a

club such as Sheffield United to get

carried away and be too bold, but

they have not tried to change

everything overnight.

Of the nine new signings this

summer, only Callum Robinson – a

£7 million arrival from Preston –

started. Wilder knows the value of

loyalty, of trusting those who got

them out of the Championship.

Tellingly, his best player was

right-back George Baldock, who

had spent most of his career in

League One with Milton Keynes

Dons before two years in the Cham-

pionship with the Blades culmi-

nated in promotion in May. The

26-year-old was superb at both

ends of the pitch, a perfectly timed

covering tackle on Zaha nullifying

his one moment in the first half.

At the other, he gave Patrick van

Aanholt a torrid time, beating him

twice to deliver dangerous crosses

that should have been converted.

The one black mark, a nasty studs-

up challenge on James McCarthy,

drew an angry response and earned

them both yellow cards.

If there is a worry for Wilder, it is

the conundrum of trying to main-

tain the same attacking threat in

the top tier as in the second. The

miss by David McGoldrick, just be-

fore half-time, when he put the ball

straight into Vicente Guaita’s arms

from inside the six-yard box, was a

reminder chances must be taken.

Palace had offered virtually

nothing, Christian Benteke stealing

the ball from Jack O’Connell before

firing at Dean Henderson from a

tight angle. And eventually the

hosts got a deserved goal. O’Connell

fed Enda Stevens down the right,

and he slipped it through for

substitute Luke Freeman to

run on to inside the box.

The new signing from

Queens Park Rangers’

early shot was saved,

low to his left by

Guaita, but it fell for

John Lundstram to

fire home his first goal

for 18 months.

The visitors offered nothing

to suggest they would equalise

and, with the sun out, the

crowd cheered their way

through the closing stages.

United are not only back in

the Premier League, they are

making their presence felt.

“We didn’t get going in the

second half,” complained Pal-

ace manager Roy Hodgson.

“In the first half, I thought we

were worth 0-0 at half-time.

Second half, we seemed to lose

that composure and some of the

passing quality we had. It

became quite easy for Shef-

field United to protect their

victory. They did what they

needed to do. They gave the

sort of performance I am sure

Chris Wilder would have wanted.”

77

Matches won by

Chris Wilder since

start of 2016-17

season. Only Pep

Guardiola has

won more

1

Matches in

August that

Palace have won

of their past 11,

failing to score in

eight of them

his dream job

In the pink:

Wilfred Ndidi

rises to head

Leicester City’s

equaliser

against Chelsea

turning up is embarrassing

It is

unfair to

ask an

official

to work

on two

intense

games in

as many

days

accident. Usually, if a referee was

to blame for not making it to the

ground in good time, they would

risk a financial or professional

punishment, with the Professional

Game Match Officials Limited

(PGMOL) removing them from the

next round of fixtures.

The incident highlights a

broader problem facing the

PGMOL with the introduction of

the video assistant referee this

season. Scott was the VAR at

Stockley Park for Manchester

City’s match with Tottenham

Hotspur’s on Saturday.

He was not alone in covering

two jobs this weekend, with Martin

Atkinson and Mike Dean, for

example, both officiating a match

and acting as VAR. In other words,

the elite group of Premier League

referees have been given an extra

responsibility without increased

support. The number of officials in

the group has remained the same.

This lack of depth was further

highlighted by Oliver Langford

replacing Scott. Langford is

experienced at Championship level

but was thrown in at the deep end.

He delivered a fine performance in

an important televised game.

Pep Guardiola, the City manager,

has said it is unfair to ask a referee

to work on two intense matches in

successive days. I agree. An

obvious solution would be for the

PGMOL to retrain retired Premier

League officials and ask them to

serve as a VAR. Former referees

such as Roger East and Mark

Halsey would be suited to the task.

But, no, I would not want the job!

The Daily Telegraph Monday 19 August 2019 *** 9

RELEASED BY "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws