Late heartbreak was on the cards at Bramall Lane, as Blackburn Rovers missed out on a first-ever trip to the new Wembley and a first FA Cup Semi-Final appearance since 2007, as a late Tommy Doyle strike, basted in controversy, saw Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades book a Wembley date with Manchester City.
With Rovers coming into this Quarter-Final in high hopes, after their midweek 2-1 home victory over Reading, Jon Dahl Tomasson was forced into one change from Wednesday’s win, as the cup-tied Sorba Thomas dropped out and was replaced by Ryan Hedges. There was a return to the bench for Thomas Kaminski, who was in a matchday squad for the first-time since the 2-2 draw in the Fourth Round against Birmingham City.
As ITV descended onto Bramall Lane, as did nearly 6,000 Rovers fans who made the short trip across the Pennines to back their boys ahead of a potential first ever outing at the new ‘home of football.’ With the visitors in fine voice ahead of the start and the cameras worldwide honed in on the midday kick-off and the first game of Sunday, it was Sammie Szmodics who got the game underway.
Rovers saw a chance to take a very early lead as Ben Brereton Díaz was fed by Ryan Hedges, but the ball was stolen by a home defender before the Chilean could pull the trigger.
After eight minutes, James McAtee made a good run from deep to stretch Rovers before receiving the ball and trying to ease the ball past Aynsley Pears, yet the Rovers goalie did well to keep the game goalless.
McAtee’s fellow loanee from Manchester City, Tommy Doyle, tried his own attempt at beating Pears, this time, from range a minute later. The former Cardiff City loanee found a yard and let fly, but Pears gathered with ease.
With 18 minutes gone, Rovers managed to hit a good patch of form as they penned the Blades back with some good counter-attacking play. Tyler Morton drove down the left-wing and delivered the ball from the byline, to Sam Gallagher whose effort deflected behind for a corner…except it didn’t. As Morton stood over the ball prior to taking the set-piece, referee Tim Robinson paused play as he was informed of the possibility of a handball by Jack Robinson. This led to euphoria in the away end, as the official went over to the monitor to check, before confirming the penalty as Jack Robinson received a yellow card.
After the penalty was confirmed, responsibility of the spot-kick fell to Ben Brereton Díaz, who made no mistake and dispatched the penalty with power and precision as it just evaded the gloves of Wes Foderingham, who guess the right way and dived to his left. Although the goalie did all the right things, Brereton Díaz’s penalty proved too much for the shot-stopper, who couldn’t prevent 1-0.
They say ‘you are most vulnerable when you score’ and that seemed to be the case for Rovers, as just six minutes after taking the lead, the home side pegged the visitors back level at 1-1. United streamed forwards and were awarded a corner to which Rovers managed clear via Sam Gallagher. Sadly, the attacker’s clearance only fell as far as Max Lowe, who hit a half-volley that deflected back off the Rovers attacker and left Pears rooted to the spot as the ball spun away from the goalie and into the bottom corner, in-front of the Rovers congingency.
Rovers weren’t going to let that setback ruin their mindset, as in the 33rd minute, they forced Wes Foderingham into a fine save after Morton’s free-kick was met by Dominic Hyam. Unfortunately, Foderingham was alert enough this time around, to deny Rovers from re-taking the lead, as he pulled off a fantastic acrobatic save to keep the scores level, as the hosts cleared the subsequent corner.
With both teams equally matched in a very pulsating cup tie, Tim Robinson added one three additional minutes at the end of the first-half, before calling time on a dramatic, yet very watchable first period.
Paul Heckingbottom would have been pleased with how his side had reacted after going a goal down, but would have been frustrated that they had not taken the chances they had been afforded by Rovers. The former Barnsley boss would have wanted more energy and decisiveness from his team ahead of a crucial 45 minutes in the seasons of both teams.
Jon Dahl Tomasson would have also been satisfied with how his young side had coped in such a hostile atmosphere. The Dane would have been encouraging his players to continue their fine work and not worry about the deflected setback that had occurred so soon after taking the lead.
As both sides re-emerged for a vital second period, it was the Blades who got play back underway, as the home crowd looked to encourage and drive their side to Wembley.
Two minutes in, Sheffield United nearly took the lead as McAtee found George Baldock with a layoff, as the overlapping wingback broke into the box and let one fly. Luckily for the Rovers fans at the other end of Bramall Lane, it was only the side-netting that rippled, as Rovers were awarded a goal-kick.
Rovers found their groove in the second-half, as they forced Wes Foderingham into action in the 49th minute. After breaking down the left, Harry Pickering saw his effort palmed away by the goalkeeper, before a combination of Foderingham’s gloves and the post denied the Chilean from restoring Rovers’ lead in-front of the away contingency.
Ben Brereton Díaz & Harry Pickering again combined in the 52nd minute as the former fed the latter, but the cross into the area into the ‘corridor of uncertainty’ wasn’t met by a Blue and White shirt, as there were none in the box.
In the 58th minute, Rovers nearly shot themselves in the foot as Lewis Travis played a blind backpass that saw McAtee latch onto it. The Man City loanee was alone through on goal, with only Pears to beat, but the goalkeeper stood tall and firm to deny the hosts their first lead of the game with his shin.
That save proved incredibly vital for Rovers, as 120 seconds later, there were scenes of delirium in the away end as nearly 6,000 Blues were everywhere in celebration of their second goal of the day, which came courtesy of Sammie Szmodics. Tyler Morton did brilliantly to win the ball back inside the home team’s half, before laying it off to Sam Gallagher. The forward turned and slipped Szmodics through who still had a lot to do before wheeling away in celebration, but he did it perfectly, as he beat his man and the offside trap, before slotting past Foderingham for 2-1!
In the 62nd minute, Hayden Carter was booked for fouling Oli McBurnie, which left Rovers with the consequence that the young defender would potentially miss the semi-finals if Rovers were to advance.
Nine minutes later, the whole away end had their hands on their head as Ryan Hedges somehow managed to not find the back of the net. The Welshman broke down the right and cut in on his left before firing a low show towards goal that beat Foderingham. The post was what stood in the way between 2-1 and 3-1, as the ball cannoned back off the upright and rolled along the line before the defence cleared their lines.
From the stoppage after clearing the ball, Sheffield United made their first change of the game as Billy Sharp was introduced for the booked Jack Robinson, as the Blades ditched their three-back system, in favour of something more offensive.
Brereton Díaz was again causing havoc down the left in the 75th minute as he got past Baldock and delivered a cross into the six-yard box, but neither Gallagher nor Szmodics were able to latch onto the pass.
Moments later, McAtee managed to feed Oliver McBurnie whose effort landed well wide of Pears’ goal.
With the lead intact, Jon Dahl Tomasson made a double defensive change, as Rovers changed to a 5-4-1 with Callum Brittain and Scott Wharton replacing Joe Rankin-Costello and Ryan Hedges, with 10 minutes to go.
That change arguably caused more problems than it solved. As Rovers’ defensive line looked to reorganise themselves after the change, Sheffield United attacked down the newly formed right-hand side as the hosts hurdled a number of challenges, before the ball fell to McBurnie who hurdled another in the area prior to keeping his composure and slotting the ball past Pears to equalise for 2-2.
As both sides now aimed for extra-time, Sheffield United made another change, introducing Jayden Bogle for George Baldock to freshen up their own right-hand side.
With momentum on their side, the home team flew into the ascendency as their crowd increased the decibels inside Bramall Lane, which helped encourage the players on the pitch. With Rovers in possession through Tyler Morton on halfway, Iliman Ndiaye dispossessed the Liverpool loanee, with the midfielder claiming he had been poked in the eye after staying down. Tim Robinson was not in agreement as play continued with United moving down their left-wing. Soon, they were able to find a pocket of space through Tommy Doyle just outside the area and with Morton still down, the Manchester City loanee lasered one towards the top right-hand corner, leaving Pears grasping the air as he so nearly kept the ball out, but as the ball bulged into the top corner to complete the turnaround, the home contingencies and the players went wild for 3-2.
With four minutes of time added on and Rovers’ hopes of Wembley looking fainter by every passing second, Rovers made a late double change as Tyrhys Dolan and Jake Garrett replaced Tyler Morton and Sammie Szmodics.
Despite the late changes and Pears even coming up for a late corner, it proved to be ‘too little, too late’ for Rovers as time was soon called on an exhilarating FA Cup tie, that saw Rovers’ hopes of a first Wembley appearance since the 1995 Charity Shield dashed in 10 minutes.
‘Heartbreak’ is the only appropriate word that describes this tie. Rovers somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the final ten minutes, in a move that can be blamed on many different factors, so one wishes. However, whilst Rovers were awarded the penalty, with the first Sheffield United goal being deflected and the couple of gilt-edged chances the Blues missed, it felt like it wasn’t going to be their day, which was incredibly disappointing from the perspective of someone who was amongst the near-6000 travellers to Sheffield.
With just the league to focus on, Rovers now have nine games to try and secure a playoff spot for the first time since their relegation from the Premier League in 2012. The Blues will now have to regroup during the international break and come back stronger ahead of the final nine fixtures of the Sky Bet Championship season.
The Blues return to action on April Fools’ Day as they make their second trip to the Second City of the season, as Birmingham City play hosts at 3pm. After that, Ewood Park reopens its doors to Norwich City for some Good Friday football on 7th April for the 3pm start. Following a return home, Easter Monday sees the Blues return to Yorkshire, this time to face Huddersfield Town for the 12:30pm kick-off which will be live on Sky Sports.
