Full TimeSecond Half ends, Sheffield United 2, West Bromwich Albion 0.Post updateAttempt blocked. Oli McBurnie (Sheffield United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Iliman Ndiaye.Post updateAttempt missed. Oli McBurnie (Sheffield United) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Iliman Ndiaye with a cross.
Sheffield United beat West Brom at Bramall Lane to win promotion back to the Premier League after two years in the Championship. Norway international Sander Berge gave the home side the lead after the break when he was teed up by Iliman Ndiaye following an awfully under-hit backpass from Taylor Gardner-Hickman. The Blades, who went into the game needing just three points from four games to secure promotion, had been sluggish up until then but overwhelmed the away side from thereon and Anel Ahmedhodzic scored with a controlled close range volley to seal victory with just under 15 minutes to play. Paul Heckingbottom’s side will join title winners Burnley in the top flight next season.
The play-off chasing visitors had enjoyed the better of things up until the opening goal but Karlan Grant headed a great chance wide in the opening minutes and a penalty shout was turned down when Brandon Thomas-Asante was felled on the edge of the area. Berge’s goal totally knocked the stuffing out of Carlos Corberan’s men though and the Blades’ margin of victory could have been more comprehensive at the end. Their 26th league win of the season takes them seven points clear of third-placed Luton who only have two fixtures left. West Brom, who were playing their game in hand on the sides around them, remain two points outside the top six with matches against play-off rivals Norwich and Swansea to finish the campaign.
This is the third time the Blades have been promoted to the Premier League, with all coming via second-placed league finishes. They have spent the vast majority of this season in second place behind champions Burnley. It is two days short of four years since Chris Wilder, who had guided them to the League One title in 2017, ended their 12-year top-flight hiatus. The Blades-supporting boss then led them to an impressive ninth-placed finish in 2019-20 in their first year back in the Premier League. However, things fell apart the following campaign both on and off the pitch. Wilder left the club in March before they finished bottom of the table with just 23 points under the caretaker charge of Heckingbottom. Serbian Slavisa Jokanovic was appointed that summer but was sacked in November after a slow start to the new Championship season and further disagreements behind the scenes. To the surprise of some, Heckingbottom was immediately installed as his long-term successor and oversaw a run of form that saw them go from 16th to fifth by the end of the 2021-22 campaign. Although they fell to a penalty shoot-out defeat by Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals they carried on where they had left off when this season started and won seven of their opening 10 matches. A run of six games without a victory followed but they quickly returned to form with seven wins in eight, including a 5-2 shellacking of Burnley, either side of the World Cup break. The Clarets pulled away from them with a run of 10 successive wins but the Blades have retained second position from 13 November, when Burnley went top, despite challenges from Luton and Middlesbrough. United also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup where they were knocked out by Manchester City on Saturday.
The Blades’ success on the pitch has been in direct contrast to the uncertainty off it. They were placed under a transfer embargo in January, lifted last week, for missed payments to another club and a protracted takeover by Nigerian businessman Dozy Mmobuosi remains incomplete. United fans will hope that this promotion will see issues in the background sorted in time for their Premier League return in August. BBC Radio Sheffield sports editor Andy Giddings commented that Sheffield United have hit a timely jackpot and that their great squad of experienced pros and highly talented youngsters have dealt with all challenges remarkably well. Goalscorers Anel Ahmedhodzic and Sander Berge expressed their joy at achieving their dream of playing in the Premier League, while striker Oli McBurnie said it was “the best feeling he had experienced in football”.
Line-ups:
Sheffield United: 18Foderingham, 15Ahmedhodzic, 12Egan, 19Robinson, 2Baldock (substituted for Bogle at 90+1’minutes), 28McAtee (substituted for Fleck at 75’minutes), 8Berge (substituted for Basham at 90+1’minutes), 22Doyle (substituted for Norwood at 81’minutes), 13Lowe, 9McBurnie (substituted for Sharp at 75’minutes), 29Ndiaye; Substitutes: 1Davies, 4Fleck, 6Basham, 10Sharp, 16Norwood, 20Bogle, 36Jebbison
West Brom: 24Palmer, 2Furlong, 6Ajayi, 15Pieters (substituted for Bartley at 71’minutes), 3Townsend, 14Molumby, 35Yokuslu (substituted for Swift at 71’minutes), 17J Wallace (substituted for Malcolmat 90+2’minutes), 29Gardner-Hickman, 18Grant (substituted for Albrightonat 78’minutes), 21Thomas-Asante; Substitutes: 5Bartley, 7Rogic, 8Livermore, 19Swift, 22Albrighton, 32Malcolm, 33Griffiths