Club Legend: Billy Sharp scores the winner as Sheffield United progress to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup

Credit: Sheffield United FC

A 2-1 victory at Bramall Lane against League One side Plymouth Argyle saw the Blades make it through to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup as they look to continue their cup run.

In his first appearance in the Emirates FA Cup, Billy Sharp assisted a goal and scored one to earn himself a Man of the Match performance.

The Sheffield-born forward has spent his last six years at the Blades and this victory indicated that the Premier League side have a glimmer of hope in reaching the latter stages of the competition.

The now 34-year-old striker started his youth career at Sheffield United and made his breakthrough in the 2004/05 season.

After a loan spell at Rushden & Diamonds, Sharp decided to leave Bramall Lane and moved to Scunthorpe United.

He returned to Sheffield United two seasons later with the striker returning from the Iron for £2.7 million.

But Sharp went out on loan again in 2009/10, joining Doncaster Rovers. He signed for the club permanently after a successful season at the Keepmoat .

Sharp then spent time at the likes of Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Reading and then Leeds United. But he rejoined his boyhood club from their Yorkshire rivals in 2015/16, with Blades manager Nigel Adkins paying £650,000 for the striker.

Upon his return to the then League One side, he scored 21 goals and assisted seven times as the Blades finished mid-table in the Third Division. Adkins was subsequently sacked with Chris Wilder appointed as his replacement.

The next season, the Blades were centurions as they got promoted as into the Championship as Division Champions. Sharp was the League’s top scorer with 30 goals that season as was named League One Player of the Year.

His first season back in the Second Tier since in 2014/15 saw the striker score 13 goals and get four assists. The Blades finished tenth in the Championship, six points off the play-offs.

Sharp then scored 23 goals and bagged four assists in the following season as the South-Yorkshire side finished second in the Championship, winning promotion to the Premier League.

Sheffield United were a surprise package in their first season in the top flight for 12 years as they pushed for European Football. However, the Coronavirus pandemic halted the charge and the Blades fell away at the end of the season. They finished ninth, five points behind sixth-place Tottenham Hotspur who took the final Europa League place.

Sharp played 25 games in the Premier League, but he fell down the pecking order only managing to score three goals and get two assists.

This season, the Blades have been brought down to earth and their life in the Premier League is massively under threat as they have only picked up five points in 19 games in the league so far this season.

Sheffield United are 12 points away from safety and are desperate in finding a bit of luck. The FA Cup looks to be an escape from the reality in the league as they look to go deep in the competition.

The FA Cup was a competition that Sharp has not featured in this season but his performance yesterday went on to show how much it meant for the striker.

Plymouth Argyle travelled to Bramall lane in the hopes of making the Fifth Round of the competition and causing an upset by knocking out a Premier League side from the competition.

For the Blades, it was a chance to carry on their hopes of trying to reach the latter stages of the FA Cup with their league campaign being awful up to now.

Sheffield United dominated proceedings as they looked to cruise past the League One side with ease as they mounted attack after attack with Argyle able to soak up the pressure.

The 34-year-old forward was straight out of the blocks early on as he tried to put his side ahead early on. He was able to find some space in the box and fired a shot at goal with his effort wide of the goal. The linesman flagged the club captain offside anyway so even if they ball found the back of the net it would have been ruled off.

A few minutes later, Sharp looked to get past the Plymouth defence as he made his way into the box once more. The forward had his effort blocked with Argyle’s backline being on high-alert with the forward in and around their box.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 39th minute. The Blades’ number ten crossed the ball into the box which found the head of Chris Basham who was able to get the ball into the back of the net with a towering header.

Two minutes into the second-half, Sharp was on the scoresheet as he rounded Plymouth goalkeeper Michael Cooper to double the lead for the home side after a fantastic ball from Oliver Norwood. In doing so he became the oldest player to score and assist in an FA Cup match since Ryan Giggs did so in January 2013.

34 – At 34 years and 353 days, Billy Sharp is the oldest player to both score and assist a goal in an FA Cup game for a Premier League side since Ryan Giggs against Fulham in January 2013 (39y 58d). Vintage. pic.twitter.com/zGcREE28ni

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 23, 2021

Sharp had the chance to grab a brace from the match. The forward received a high ball and was able to drag Jerome Opoku as he ran past the defender. Opoku made amends as Sharp ran into the box with the Plymouth defender closing the angle for the Sheffield United forward causing him to shoot but his shot was over.

Before Sharp came off in the 79th minute, he looked to get another assist as he ran through on goal before squaring the ball to John Fleck with the midfielder tapping it into the back of the net, but it was disallowed after the linesman put his flag up for offside.

The Blades will look to replicate their run in the competition from last season where they made it to the Quarter-Final stage, bowing out to eventual winners Arsenal 2-1 at Bramall Lane.

Sheffield United have a very good chance to make it through to the last eight of the competition once more with a tie at Bramall Lane against Bristol City.

They will be hoping that Billy Sharp can help them reach the Quarter-Final as they hunt for the trophy that has eluded them since 1925 when they beat Cardiff City 1-0 at Wembley Stadium.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt