Sheffield United seal passage into next round with 2-0 win over Millwall

Strikes from Muhamed Besic and Oliver Norwood earned Sheffield United a place in the next round of the FA Cup with a 2-0 victory at The Den.

From the off, the hosts high pressing style uneased the Blades’ defenders, forcing errors and making life uncomfortable.

In the third minute, Millwall almost opened the scoring. Matt Smith stole the ball off of Sheffield United’s midfield and tried his luck with a left footed strike only for it to fly over Dean Henderson’s right post.

But the Premier League side started to establish dominance. A great combination in the seventh minute between Billy Sharp and Ben Osborn found Mo Besic, but the Bosnian’s effort went wide of the keeper’s right side.

In the 22nd minute, manager Chris Wilder’s unique tactics almost paid off. Overlapping centre-back Chris Basham played a ball behind the Millwall defensive line, found by Sharp. The skipper rounded the keeper and shot at an empty net only for James Brown to clear it off the line and denied the visitors an opener.

After a stalemate first-half, both sides certainly came out with renewed optimism. Basham switched the play from one side of the box to the other towards Sharp who headed it back in the six yard box. Thankfully for the hosts, Bartosz Bialkowski reached the ball and parried away.

But eventually, Sheffield United did break the deadlock.

Callum Robinson played the ball to Sharp. The striker found Besic at the edge of the box and struck a left-footed strike into the right corner, far out of Bialkowski’s reach. 

As Millwall pushed for the equaliser, Sheffield United doubled their lead.

Once again Sharp was the provider, whose pass found Ollie Norwood. The midfielder had enough space to think about shooting, a thought he acted upon.  A low strike escaped Bialkowski’s reach towards the bottom left corner to double the lead on the 84th minute.

With a comfortable lead, Chris Wilder’s men saw off the match to ensure their passage into the next round.