UNDER THE KNIFE
Sheffield United 0 West Ham 1
No team would be keen to take on a side in November still looking for their first league win. When that side is Sheffield United, who finished (9th) in their first season back in the Premier League for 12 seasons away (which included six successive seasons in League One) it looks even more fate-laden. To roll out three points to a side no one else has lost to in three months would not be great for the spirit. So now that thought is out of the system, let’s get on with the task of winning this one and getting into the upper reaches of the Premier League Table once again. The Snodfather is on the bench and will remember his superb VAR goal in injury time in this fixture earlier this year that should have resulted in a deserved draw. So VAR owes him one. Captain John Egan’s third minute ball puts Baldock through and is a genuine early chance for the Blades, but Fabianski smothers the effort well. Bit of an early worry, as is their dominant possession in the first ten minutes. Bill Leslie, Sky’s commentator this afternoon, explains that he has made the effort to establish that Vladimir Coufal requests ‘Soufal’ as his phonetic UK appellation. Tomas Soucek has yet to have time on the ball, so we’ll see if Leslie took the trouble to ask about his preference. Hammers are beginning to knock the ball around with a little more confidence, the left channel of Masuaku and Fornals linking well to provide Bowen with a couple of half chances. And there it is finally, in the fourteenth minute… ‘Sow-check’.
Sheffield United v West Ham is one of a handful of February 29th Hammers fixtures in the club’s history, played on a Tuesday back in 1971-72, and finishing up 3-0 to the home side with a hat trick from Bill Dearden. Yes, this has been a particularly incident-free first twenty minutes, but at least West Ham now turn up the temperature and after some tricky footwork by Masuaku a ball is pumped into the centre and Bowen sets up Foucal whose powerful shot is beaten out by Aaron Ramsdale, fortunately for him straight to a Blades’ defender who clears gratefully. Soucek then times a run perfectly from deep, found by Haller’s brilliant header, but agonisingly steers the ball wide when it looked easier to score. That move is enough to raise the spirits of the ‘virtual’ West Ham following, which is turned up a notch or two by the other VAR official (Volume Adjustment Reaction person). Basham’s ball in to McBurnie at the other end is headed towards the top corner but Fabianski makes a smart save, pawing the ball away for a corner from which McGoldrick touches the ball onto the post with Fabianski beaten, though is later revealed to have been in an offside position from the rebound. Hammers then break and Bowen has his shot blocked by Egan and Soucek heads just over from the resultant corner. Exciting end to a positive first half. ‘Tacos to the chateau’ says Snoop Dogg as the half-time ‘entertainment’ chimes in.
Rice is involved in the first meaningful move of the second half, chipping a through ball to Haller who brings it down well but can’t get a clean shot in on goal. There isn’t a West Ham fan in the country who’d be disappointed to see Haller start to get amongst the goals. There’s been sufficient Eintracht Frankfurt You Tube footage in lockdown to siphon through to see what he is capable of… And as if by magic, though West Ham haven’t won here since 1968, Sébastien Haller smacks a half chance from the edge of the area past Ramsdale. Alan Smith calls it a ‘hit and hope,’ though it’s anything but. Within three minutes he is calling it a ‘great hit’ – the Goonster. Keep your bleeding eyes open. Don’t forget you used to play for Alvechurch, you plunket, that great amateur team of hit and hopes…
Ryan Brewster, Sheffield United’s £23m pre-season signing is poised to enter the arena as a substitute… could be a story emerging here. Hopefully he’ll kick off his career at Bramall Lane, just starting next week… Now Masuaku breaks and puts Haller in for a second but his shot is agonisingly wide. It looked on replay like he hadn’t expected the chance. Having ploughed a hapless furlough for some time at the club, Haller should realise that this isn’t a Pellegrini tappety-tapping outfit any more. Now after Cresswell’s vicious near post corner, Rice gets up brilliantly to head against the bar… and over. Actually now looking like an entertaining game… Olly McBurnie is through on the break alongside Coufal and beats Fabianski with his powerful strike, but the ball comes back off the crossbar and is hooked clear…
Pinball Alley in the next five minutes as shots rain in on the Sheffield United goal, first Haller and then Bowen seeing their efforts blocked. A second goal would be welcome now, that’s for certain. In injury time Mark Noble enters the fray to ease ahead of Steve Potts with a 507th appearance, and to have the chance to play a small part in this memorable away victory which takes West Ham up to 8th in the table. Last Hammer to score a winner here was Geoff Hurst in April 1968, so Haller is finally in the kind of company he should cherish.
1 Lucasz Fabianski, 21 Angelo Ogbonna, 4 Fabian Balbuena, 3 Aaron Cresswell, 5 Vladimir Coufal, 41 Declan Rice (c), 28 Tomas Soucek, 26 Arthur Masuaku, 20 Jarrod Bowen, 22 Sébastien Haller, 18 Pablo Fornals
Substitutes: 10 Manuel Lanzini, 16 Mark Noble
Scorer: Sébastien Haller
