Sheffield United 1-2 Leicester City
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Harvey Barnes fired in the winner moments after coming off the bench
Substitute Harvey Barnes' majestic strike helped Leicester City inflict a first Premier League defeat of the season on Sheffield United in a pulsating affair at Bramall Lane.
Six minutes after coming on, Barnes fired a half-volley from the edge of the box which flew past home keeper Dean Henderson to dampen what had been a spirited United fightback.
The superb finish came just eight minutes after the home side had cancelled out Jamie Vardy's first-half opener, when record signing Oliver McBurnie found a first goal for the club after coming off the bench.
McBurnie's header, low into the bottom corner, sent Bramall Lane into raptures and United appeared to have momentum.
But Barnes then lashed in to give Leicester a first league win of the season and Chris Wilder's side only their second defeat in 21 matches.
Leicester marry grit with class
Vardy was booed by home fans and made light of the treatment when celebrating his opening goal
In his own words, Barnes found a "sweet connection" from 18 yards to leave Henderson motionless and win the first ever Premier League meeting between the clubs.
It was perhaps harsh on Sheffield United who deservedly trailed at the break but showed an abundance of endeavour in the second half, notably from 54 minutes when Wilder introduced Billy Sharp and McBurnie.
But if Barnes' hit was classy, Leicester deserve praise for their grit in the face of the hosts' onslaught, with central defender Caglar Soyuncu proving outstanding all day and defensive midfielder Hamza Choudhury completing more interceptions than anyone else on the pitch.
The Foxes' opening goal underlined their mix of work-rate and class. Ayoze Perez robbed defender Chris Basham before James Maddison played a deft pass with the outside of his foot into space, allowing Vardy to race in and power home left footed.
Vardy - a boyhood Sheffield Wednesday fan - had been booed throughout and duly cupped his ears in celebration.
He had just eight first-half touches and 16 across the 94 minutes but with Maddison so crafty in finding space around him, Vardy always looked a threat.
Since the beginning of last season, Maddison has created more chances than any other Premier League player and with England manager Gareth Southgate watching from the stands, he again served up an intelligent display.
Effort is not enough for the Blades
McBurnie found the net for the first time since a £20m move from Swansea
Wilder summed up the defeat by stating his side got what they deserved and when quizzed on their admirable effort, he replied: "I don't see why that should get an applause."
It was a harsh, if typically honest reflection from the 51-year-old.
Match of the Day commentator Alistair Mann highlighted the "terrific noise" generated inside Bramall Lane early on but aside from the long-range efforts from John Lundstram and George Baldock, the home side did little to repay their fans in the opening 45 minutes.
The Blades' passing accuracy at 75.5% was down by about 2% on last week's win over Crystal Palace and they could not find an attacking rhythm early on.
Sharp and McBurnie's introduction seemed to raise home spirits and suddenly Leicester's midfield of Choudhury, Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet seemed unable to close spaces as quickly.
Baldock's pin-point delivery allowed McBurnie to score - proving why the Blades paid Swansea £20m for the striker. But after that goal, Leicester defended their penalty area stoutly.
Keeper Kasper Schmeichel spectacularly denied McBurnie - though the effort was later flagged offside - and the home side then struggled to muster a moment of quality, even with former Manchester United midfielder Ravel Morrison introduced from the bench for his debut.
It proved a day of frustration for Wilder who concluded his side were not "brave enough".
Man of the match - James Maddison
Caglar Soyuncu and Hamza Choudhury were superb from a defensive perspective but James Maddison offered repeated quality going forward. An assist, two key passes and a handful of good crosses thrown in, he is looking more and more key for Rodgers and could perhaps soon be key for the watching Gareth Southgate.
The Maddison-Vardy axis - key stats
Leicester City have recorded consecutive league victories against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane for the first time since March 1965 under Matt Gillies.
Sheffield United are winless in their past seven matches against Leicester in all competitions (D2 L5), losing each of the past four in a row.
Sheffield United became the first Premier League side to name an all British/Irish starting XI in each of their first three games of a season since Wolves in 2011-12.
Jamie Vardy has scored 10 Premier League goals in 13 appearances since Brendan Rodgers' first game in charge of Leicester City in March, the first player to reach double figures in that time.
Four of James Maddison's Premier League assists have been for Vardy - he has not assisted another Leicester team-mate more than once in the competition.
'A lot to work on' - manager chat
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "I didn't think we deserved anything from the game today. Out of possession it was far too comfortable for them and in possession we weren't brave enough and we turned it over too much.
"I think the better team won today. I'm not pleased with the effort because that is just bog standard. 'Cheers for effort' doesn't tick a box for me.
"If we keep giving the ball away to good players we are going to create bad situations. In both boxes they were better than us. There is a lot for us to work on."
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We needed to be ready to fight and show resilience and it was an important three points for us. We had to change the system in the last 25 minutes to cope with the balls coming into the box.
"It is a very young group but they are all focused and doing well for me. It was fantastic technique for Harvey's goal and that kind of goal was worthy of being the winning goal."
Up next?
Sheffield United go to Blackburn in the EFL Cup on Tuesday and Leicester travel to Newcastle in the competition a day later.