Sheffield United 0-1 Rotherham – Blades miss chance to go top of Championship

Ben Wiles winner against Sheffield United was his second goal in three games

Sheffield United were denied the chance to go top of the Championship after South Yorkshire rivals Rotherham triumphed at Bramall Lane for the first time in 42 years.

Ben Wiles scored the decisive first-half goal after Chiedozie Ogbene drifted into the box and found the Millers captain unmarked to coolly turn the ball home.

Enda Stevens had the ball in the back of the net before the break as the Blades searched for a leveller, but the scrambled effort was ruled out for offside.

Viktor Johansson kept a fierce John Egan shot out early in the second half and dealt with a late Oli McBurnie effort, while substitute Billy Sharp also headed wide for a Blades side that failed to take anything from a game they dominated.

Blades boss Paul Heckingbottom stuck with the same starting side from the one that overpowered leaders Burnley 5-2 on Saturday – a victory that gave Sheffield United the chance to move above the Clarets if they prevailed in this South Yorkshire derby.

The hosts, however, were forced to make an early change with John Fleck coming off injured to be replaced by James McAtee after just 20 minutes.

The Millers, who had six first-team players missing through injury, were the first to seriously threaten, with Wes Foderingham tipping a shot from Peter Kioso over the bar after he linked up well with Cohen Bramall.

United struggled to create meaningful chances of their own before a failed Jack Robinson clearance allowed Ogbene to tee Wiles up for the only goal of the game in the 38th minute.

Stevens, who had a goal disallowed late in the first half, appeared fortunate not to give away a penalty deep into injury-time at the end of the 45 minute when he tangled with Wiles in the area.

Sheffield United came out strong after the interval with Egan testing Johansson, who was also equal to a glanced header from McBurnie in the 68th minute and fierce shot from the striker in the final minute.

While Burnley stunned the Millers with two stoppage-time goals – including a 100th-minute winner – last week to go top, Rotherham stubbornly refused to buckle against the Blades who remain third.

Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom:

“From the first moment we didn’t play with the same pace and energy that we normally do.

“When you have got a team that is feeling that, conceding the first goal is the last thing you want to happen. We just fell below our levels, there are probably reasons, but we fell below our levels as a team. We weren’t at our best.

“We could have won that game, of course we do, but we didn’t. I am not saying we deserved to win, the stats might say we did, but we didn’t play with the same energy. We weren’t at our best as a group.”

Rotherham United boss Matt Taylor:

“We knew it before the game, I said about 1980 being a long time ago, I wasn’t born, but what it would be like for the fans to witness it.

“I used myself as an example because I am a Man Utd fan and the games I remember growing up are United-City, United-Liverpool, United-Leeds, the ones with a bit more spice about them.

“Local derbies mean more to the fans and that certainly meant more tonight.

“It means so much to the players because they have taken a few blows in the last few weeks and that is never nice.”

Line-ups Sheff Utd

Formation 3-5-2

18Foderingham

15Ahmedhodzic12Egan19Robinson

2Baldock23Osborn16Norwood4Fleck3Stevens

29Ndiaye9McBurnie

Substitutes

Rotherham

Formation 5-4-1

1Johansson

30Kioso21Peltier24Humphreys2Harding3Bramall

8Wiles16Lindsay4Barlaser18Rathbone

11Ogbene

Substitutes

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