Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Sheffield United: Peck Steals the Show And All Three Points For Blades
· Yahoo Sports
Sheffield United were able to hold off Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Tuesday night, securing a hard-fought 2-1 victory.
The home side took the lead through a superb strike from Kristi Montgomery leaving Michael Cooper no chance in front of the away end. But after a mistake from Sydie Peck, the Blades midfielder made amends at the other end of the pitch in quick succession. Peck drove forward and played a perfectly weighted ball through to Tom Cannon who finished into the far corner with his left foot. Then, Peck flicked the ball up to himself and arrowed a left-footed strike into the bottom left corner to steer United in front.
Visit truewildslot.com for more information.
Lineups
Blackburn: Pears, Alebiosu, Ribeiro, Atcheson, Morsy (Beyuku 82), Cantwell (Higgins 82), Fevrier, McLaughlin, Afolayan, Morishita, Montgomery.
Unused: Toth, Pickering, Carter, Forshaw, Garrett, Lister, Vare.
Blades: Cooper, McCallum, Tanganga, Rothwell (Phillips 57), Choudhury (Doherty 57), Cannon, Donovan (Arblaster 67), Kitching, Brereton Díaz (Baprtiste 83), Norrington-Davies (Campbell HT), Peck.
Unused: Davies, Ayew, Riedewald, Bamford.
First Half
There was little to separate the sides during the opening exchanges, with neither team able to establish a clear advantage. That changed midway through the first half when Rovers found the breakthrough in spectacular fashion.
Montgomery collected possession after winning the ball from Sydie Peck before taking aim from distance. The midfielder produced a superb curling finish from just outside the penalty area, sending the ball beyond the reach of Michael Cooper and into the top corner to register his first goal for Blackburn.
The hosts almost doubled their advantage shortly afterwards when Fevrier released Dapo Afolayan into space down the left. The forward struck first time across goal, but his effort narrowly missed Cooper’s far post.
Blackburn thought they had found the net again with ten minutes of the half remaining. Cooper could only parry Afolayan’s fierce effort and Todd Cantwell followed up to put the rebound into the net, although the celebrations were cut short when the assistant referee’s flag was raised for offside.
United responded immediately and levelled the contest with a well-worked move.
Joe Rothwell won possession in midfield before Peck spotted the run of Tom Cannon and delivered an excellent pass into the space behind the Rovers defence. Cannon kept his composure, advancing into the area before calmly placing his finish beyond Pears.
The equaliser gave the Blades renewed confidence and they completed the turnaround before half-time. Cannon and Ben Brereton Diaz combined during the build-up, while Rothwell once again played a key role in progressing the attack. The midfielder found Peck, who produced an outstanding first touch to create room for himself before firing a low shot through the crowd and beyond Pears to put United ahead.
Second Half
Peck almost added another shortly after the half-time restart. The midfielder connected with a first-time effort, but he failed to find the required accuracy and watched on as his strike flew wide.
Rovers continued to carry a threat, with Afolayan attempting to repeat his recent success against the Blades. Having scored a spectacular goal against United only two weeks earlier, the winger tried his luck from a similar position, only for his effort to take a deflection and sail narrowly over.
Blackburn came agonisingly close to restoring parity later in the half. Ryoya Morishita showed excellent footwork to work his way beyond former Rovers forward Brereton Diaz before sending a low delivery into the danger area. The ball eventually fell to Fevrier just six yards from goal, and his effort appeared destined for the net. However, Hamza Choudhury produced a crucial piece of defending, throwing himself into the path of the shot and blocking it on the line before the danger could be cleared.
The Blades eventually managed to see out the game by controlling the tempo as they now prepare to host Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday midday.