Sheffield United returned to winning ways after a display of ruthless finishing secured a 2-1 win at Blackburn.
All goals came in a first half that Rovers dominated and deservedly took the lead in through Kristi Montgomery’s first goal for the club on 20 minutes.
The Blades were blunted without a shot in anger for the first 34 minutes but they turned the game on its head with goals from their only two shots of the half as Tom Cannon stroked home a second on this ground in two weeks in the 35th minute.
Tom Cannon scored Sheffield United’s equaliser at Ewood Park
And Sydie Peck rifled home his first of the season a minute before the break to complete the turnaround.
Hamza Choudhury’s sensational goalline block preserved the lead in the second half, along with two smart Michael Cooper saves. But it was the spell of clinical finishing that made the difference as Chris Wilder’s men moved to within two points of the league summit.
Blackburn’s encouraging start was rewarded in the 20th minute when Montgomery dispossessed Peck and whipped the ball emphatically into the top right corner from 20 yards out.
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Kristi Montgomery curls in beauty to put Blackburn in front!
They went close to doubling the advantage six minutes later when Jayden Fevrier, on his first Rovers start, broke forward for the hosts and released Dapo Afolayan on the left whose strike whistled just beyond the far post.
Cantwell had the ball in the net in the 35th minute when Mike Cooper could only parry Afolayan’s fierce strike but the offside flag saved his blushes.
It proved vital as the Blades were level within a minute with their first effort of any note when Peck atoned for his part in the Blackburn goal by threading an inch perfect ball for Cannon on the left who calmy slotted under Aynsley Pears into the bottom right corner.
Peck had his pocket picked again minutes later after Romelle Donovan played him into trouble but Fevrier’s low drive was deflected just wide of the right-hand post.
But Rovers fell behind in the 44th minute when Peck collected Joe Rothwell’s pass and brilliantly flicked over Tom Atcheson before hammering into the bottom left corner.
Blackburn’s best chance came in the 57th minute when the visitors failed to clear and the ball fell to Afolayan six yards out with just Choudhury to beat but the defender remarkably blocked.
Ryan Alebiosu directed a shot just wide midway through the half when set clear before Yuri Rubeiro kept Rovers in the game in the 72nd minute, clearing off the line after Sam McCallum’s shot squired under Pears.
Cooper made a smart stop low to his right to deny Fevrier with eight minutes to go and Blades held on to condemn Rovers to consecutive defeats.
The managers
Blackburn’s Tony Mowbray:
“Ultimately, we lost a game and I think the goals we lost were very soft.
“The first one, goalkeeper kicked it out of his six-yard box down the middle of our pitch and within a few seconds, it’s in the back of our net. That’s just soft really, you’ve got to do the basics better.
“I think on the positive side, without seeing any data, it felt like we were pretty dominant in the game. It felt like we were the team that had the most shots, had the most chances, had the most – if we want to talk about data – expected goals.
“I think there’s lots of positives to be looked at. We got into some great areas. Less than a minute before they scored to equalise, we scored a goal that was marginally offside.
“We shot ourselves in the foot really. We weren’t ruthless enough. You can’t give games away like that, that you’re so dominant in.”
Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder:
“We’ve moved into the top 10 tonight. Lost one all season. Yes, we’re not flowing, but we’ve got an attitude about us, got character about us.
“I didn’t enjoy Saturday (the loss against Norwich). I wanted a reaction. I asked for the players to dig in, scramble about, do jobs that some of them are not used to doing, getting players up to speed as well. You could see Hamza (Choudhury) was absolutely shot after the game he’s played, Ben (Brereton Diaz) as well.
“I asked for a gritty performance that represents me, the club, the city, and our team and we got that.
“For me, it’s always the result, and improve on the performance. I’m not one of those to improve on the performance and the results will come.
“I’m not embarrassed about winning games of football because we didn’t win a lot of games of football at the start of last year.”
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