Well, that is our six games unbeaten streak crushed.
After earning a point last week against Huddersfield, we travelled to Bramall Lane to face second in the table, Sheffield United. It was my first time going to this ground and I have to say that it was a great experience, despite the scoreline.
Sheffield came into this match with four wins and one draw, in their last five games, compared to our two wins, two draws and one loss. They were second in the league, whereas we were 16th and 20 points separated us. So they were a very tough nut to crack and we needed to do something special to come out with all three points or even a point.
I thought that we played quite well to be honest; Sheffield are a team that are very hard to beat and they are second in the table. We kept tight at the back, after we conceded, and looked very threatening when we drove up the pitch. We kept the ball well and at times we were very good at winning it back. There were a few players that lacked in quality today, though; Christie and Tufan, when he was brought on. It is a shame because Christie is one of my favourite players and I am a fan of Tufan. Let’s hope that it was just a one off.
The lineup today consisted of: Matt Ingram (in goal); Sean McLoughlin; Lewie Coyle; Alfie Jones; Jacob Greaves (in defence); Jean Seri; Greg Docherty; Regan Slater (in the middle); Cyrus Christie; Oscar Estupinan and Aaron Connolly (as the front three). It is a new starting eleven and it was great to see Connolly get to start for the first time.
At the start of the first half it did not take long for the hosts to go in front. The ball was played into the box and after many poor attempts at clearing it, their striker was there to finish it off. It was a bit like the goal we conceded in our last game, however, this time the ball was on the ground rather than in the air. To be honest, that was the only mistake that we made and we eventually took control of the game. We did have a couple of good chances. But, the opposition dealt with it well. I felt like they knew what they were doing and they were organised well.
In the second period I felt like we were a much stronger team; no more sloppiness at the back and we were breaking their defence more. We passed the ball well and did a brilliant job at not allowing them near our box.
I have to say that the referee was very poor and all he wanted to do was wind us up. He hardly gave anything our way and he made the stupidest decision. Throughout the duration of the game, The Blades made some very dirty tackles, however, the referee waved half of them off or gave them a yellow card. On the other hand, we bring on a substitute, Tetteh, and he gets a red card for having a little tussle with the Sheffield player during a free kick. We keep getting put with useless referees that have no idea on what they are doing.
Nonetheless, we did the best we could at trying to fight for an equaliser; however it did not come. And, the game ended 1-0 to the favourites.
It is another scenario where we dominated in possession and passes, however, we did nothing with it. We had 52% of the possession and 483 passes yet we could not score. It really does seem that we want to win by keeping the ball for the longest amount of time, rather than win on goals. That is not how football works.
Today, we were unable to get the ball into the box and whenever we did nobody was there to stick it into the back of the net. It is so frustrating to watch because we just ping the ball around the edge of the box and then get it taken off us. This is what we used to play like at the start of the season and we need to change to a new style.
I do not think that we will start dropping after this defeat. In fact, I think we will come back stronger in our next game, where we face QPR under the lights of the MKM Stadium. I made the journey to Loftus Road earlier in the season, where we were thrashed 3-1. I really hope that it will not be a repeat.