Rovers broke an unwanted record on Wednesday night, as they failed to score for a fifth successive game for the first-time in the club’s 147-year history, as high-flying Sheffield United battled back from the adversity of going down to 10-men and giving away a penalty, to win the game in added time.
With Rovers having gone nine days without playing, with their last game being the 0-0 draw away at the Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion, after Saturday’s home clash against Millwall was postponed due to adverse weather conditions, Tony Mowbray made three changes to the side that played on St. Valentine’s Day. Skipper Darragh Lenihan, Harry Pickering and Reda Khadra all returned, with Ryan Giles and Joe Rankin-Costello relegated to the bench, whilst Ben Brereton Díaz was sidelined with an ankle ligament injury. The clash, which was set to be shown live on Sky Sports had the potential to be season-defining for both sides, with Rovers looking for their first goal and win in four, whilst Sheffield United were looking to go unbeaten for the ninth consecutive game.
Following all the introductory elements mandatory for a game on the tele, both sides prepared for kick-off, which Rovers took, following referee Matt Donohue’s whistle. The Blues were looking to end their poor run of form, which has seen them fall four points adrift of second-placed Bournemouth.
After six opening minutes of pressure from the Blades, full-back George Baldock forced the game’s first shot-on-target in the seventh minute. After John Fleck picked the ball up inside the Rovers half, he skipped past the challenge of Lewis Travis before looking to find Morgan Gibbs-White, who dummied the ball for Baldock. The full-back who scored an outrageous goal in his previous outing against Swansea City, tried to repeat his feat, but forced a fine save from Thomas Kaminski.
After 10 minutes, Paul Heckingbottom’s side thought they’d made all of their early pressure count with the opener. After some silky play by the hosts saw Sander Berge played through after he ran forward from deep, the Norweigan’s effort was only parried by Kaminski, into the path of Rhys Norrington-Davies, who finished like a striker, but saw his celebrations cut short after he was rightly deemed to have strayed offside.
In the 12th minute, a poor deep free-kick by Joe Rothwell was cleared back to him by the home defence, but the out-of-contract midfielder’s follow-up effort could only be dragged wide of the far-post.
Another Sheffield United counter-attack nearly saw Rovers with their heads in their hands, once again. After the hosts won the ball back on halfway, through Gibbs-White, he did enough to slide Berge through down the right-wing. The Blades’ second-highest signing proved his worth by putting in a pinpoint delivery which saw Billy Sharp peel off the back of an isolated Darragh Lenihan before seeing his diving header drop wide of the mark.
Two minutes later, in the 20th minute, Rovers’ own high press saw Sam Gallagher dispossess John Egan before finding John Buckley who drove forwards and lined up a shot from distance, that veered wide of the mark.
Five minutes later, Reda Khadra managed to burst forward and put a ball into the mixer which saw many yellow shirts offer it to the next, without any real end product. After the ball was finally freed, it came out to Lewis Travis whose effort was easy for Wes Foderingham to claim.
The game’s first booking came in the 26th minute as Joe Rothwell tripped Sander Berge.
Less than 120 seconds later, John Egan was also booked after he crashed into Sam Gallagher.
After Rovers were awarded a free-kick from distance, Reda Khadra stepped up and tried his luck from range. Although there was not much expectation on the youngster, he had Foderingham scrambling, as the ball narrowly eluded the crossbar and fell behind after hitting the roof of the net.
The hosts broke through again, in the 38th minute as Thomas Kaminski was peppered with attempts from Baldock and a few deflections, but despite Billy Sharp and Morgan Gibbs-White lurking, the Belgian was able to keep hold of the ball after a few fine saves.
In the final moments of the first-half, a cross was put into the box for Sam Gallagher to get on the end off, and despite his wicked half-volley – akin to his goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Ewood Park in 2016-17 – the flag was raised for offside, despite the ball ending up in the back of the stand.
After one solitary minute of added time was played, Matt Donohue called time on a first-half that definitely saw the Blades have the upper-hand. Although Rovers had threatened with a few attempts, Thomas Kaminski was certainly the busier of the two shot-stoppers.
Paul Heckingbottom would have been pleased with how his side had taken the game to Rovers. The Blades had shown great energy and quality to pry open Rovers’ defence which has been relatively solid this campaign. The home side had crafted many chances and tested Thomas Kaminski, with the Belgian showing his worth to the visitors with a number of fine saves. Although the Blades had a goal chalked off for offside, their gaffer would have been mightily encouraged with what he had seen.
Tony Mowbray, on the other hand, would have been forgiven for having mixed feelings during the break. His side had struggled to gain a foothold in the game and were seemingly being outrun in midfield, with the likes of Sander Berge and Morgan Gibbs-White pulling the strings for the hosts. Although Rovers haven’t relied on possession this campaign, they had struggled to find a consistent out-ball in this tie, with the likes of Reda Khadra, John Buckley and Sam Gallagher at times found isolated.
As the home side returned to a chorus from the terraces, it was the hosts who restarted the game in the hope that they could re-enter the top-six with a victory, after yesterday’s Championship results had ejected them from the playoff places.
Rovers started brightly in the second-half, with Joe Rothwell capitalising on a loose pass by the hosts as he found Reda Khadra. The on-loan Brighton and Hove Albion man played a low cross towards the back-post, but Sam Gallagher couldn’t make contact despite being fully stretched.
In the 53rd minute, Thomas Kaminski again came to Rovers’ rescue as the Belgian parried John Fleck’s long-range effort before claiming Gibbs-White’s close effort, prior to berating his defenders.
Sheffield United soon picked up two bookings in as many minutes, as Gibbs-White and Berge were both booked for fouls on Gallagher and Pickering, respectively.
In the 63rd minute, Rovers earnt a corner which was floated in towards the back-post, but Darragh Lenihan couldn’t guide his nod on target.
With 66 minutes gone, the red mist descended on the red-half of Sheffield, as Charlie Goode – making his full league debut for the Blades – was given his marching orders with a straight red card after he went in two-footed on Reda Khadra, right in-front of the dugout. In the melee that occurred following the challenge, Lewis Travis emerged from it all with a booking.
Three minutes later, Rovers pushed forward with intent as Buckley took control of proceedings inside the Blades’ half. He managed to turn inside and find the free man in Harry Pickering who had appeared on the edge of the area, but the wing-backs’ left-footed strike was well-saved by Wes Foderingham.
After the Foderingham save led to a corner, Rovers continued their pressure and managed to win a penalty after John Egan was penalised for handball. Although the Irishman was lucky not to also be sent off, despite already being on a booking, there was nothing he could do to stop the spot-kick being awarded.
Following the clearing of the area, it was Reda Khadra who stood up to take the spot-kick, but despite getting a good, clean and powerful connection on the ball, Wes Foderingham – who replays showed was off his line – managed to produce a fine save to keep the game goalless.
In the 78th minute, United made their first change, as Oli McBurnie replaced Billy Sharp.
Rovers soon made a switch of their own as Tyrhys Dolan replaced Ryan Nyambe at right-wing-back.
The 85th minute saw another Rovers penalty appeal turned down after Wes Foderingham made a fantastic point-blank save to deny Lenihan from close-range. After the ball rebounded back off the goalie, there were appeals after the ball came back off a Blades hand, as Rovers tried to chip a ball back into the mixer, but play was waved on.
Moments later, Joe Rothwell saw his drive from range blocked, before Khadra again tried his luck with a curling effort that just veered past the far-post.
In the 87th minute, Sheffield United made a second-change as on-loan Liverpool defender Ben Davies came on to replace Morgan Gibbs-White.
As the clock ticked over into the 90th minute, Matt Donohue signalled for five added minutes to be added onto the end of the game.
Heartbreak was to ensue for the travelling supporters, as the 92nd minute saw Rovers snatch defeat from the jaws of a draw. A John Fleck corner saw Thomas Kaminski come out and miss his catch in what was his first mistake of the night. After the ball flew over his head, it was knocked back into the mixer, at the far-post before substitute Ben Davies tapped the ball into the empty net, to send Bramall Lane into raptures.
With the crazy scenes at Bramall Lane taking a while to settle down, the game restarted with Rovers huffing and puffing for a late equaliser, but they looked deflated and out of ideas as the final whistle soon crept up on them, to consign Tony Mowbray’s side to a third defeat in their last four.
There are very few words to describe a game like that. Although the team took the game to the Blades in the second-half, after quite a passive first period, Rovers failed to capitalise on their high points in the game, particularly the penalty – which was controversial due to Foderingham’s positioning. Although it’s still too early to start shrieking with worry, the issues are there and obvious to see, despite the luck not going our way. It’s easy to point out the faults when things aren’t going well, but it’s important to note that many similar aspects occurred when we were on a high run of our own. The effort and desire were there, but sometimes, as in life, things do not go our way.
After other results went against Rovers tonight, Tony Mowbray’s side have dropped down to 5th, with 54 points on the board and a positive goal-difference of +11.
Arguably, Rovers’ most important two games of the season are up next, with the hosting of QPR and a trip to Fulham. The side against Mark Warburton’s team is on Saturday 26th February with the game set to be played at 12:30pm, due to it again being live on Sky Sports, whereas the trip down to the Thames comes the Saturday after, on the 5th March, again at 12:30pm, due to the apparent love-in Sky Sports now have with the Blues. After those two fixtures, Rovers return to home soil to host Bristol City on Saturday 12th March at 3pm.
