Sheffield United 0-1 Blackpool: Anderson earns Blackpool third straight win

Blackpool goalscorer Keshi AndersonImage source, Rex Features
Image caption,

Keshi Anderson scored his second goal in two matches against Sheffield United

Blackpool earned their third consecutive victory to move into the top six in the Championship, with a 1-0 win away at Sheffield United.

Keshi Anderson broke the deadlock for Blackpool after 76 minutes, following a cagey first half with little to separate the sides.

Iliman Ndiaye's header found the net for the Blades in the first half, but his goal was ruled offside. Morgan Gibson-White then had an effort from close range saved, while Lys Mousset hit the crossbar.

But it was Anderson who secured the three points for the visitors, with his second goal in two matches.

Sheffield United were unbeaten in 10 league matches against Blackpool coming into this fixture, with Blackpool having only won twice at Bramall Lane in the last 41 years.

Yet Blackpool came into the tie on an impressive run that had seen them win five of their past seven matches.

It was the visitors who started brightest, with Jerry Yates played through on goal early on but he was flagged offside.

Ndiaye appeared to have then found the opening goal for United after 18 minutes with a header, but his effort was also cancelled out by the assistant referee's flag.

He almost set up Mousset by squaring the ball to him in the box, but his effort was saved by Blackpool keeper Daniel Grimshaw, in a first half that had few major talking points.

Still, it was Sheffield United who seemed more likely to score when Gibson-White had a shot saved by Grimshaw before Mousset quickly hit the bar with a left-footed strike after 50 minutes.

Despite being against the run of play, when the ball then broke to Anderson with 14 minutes to go he curled it past Robin Olsen into the top-left corner from 15 yards out, to net another victory for Blackpool.

Blackpool manager Neil Critchley told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"I honestly thought this was our toughest game this season. The way they play, the positions they take up on the pitch, how they control the game gives you real problems.

"We've rolled our luck a little bit at times. Goalkeeper made a magnificent save, they hit the crossbar, they missed a couple of chances in the first half. It's that fine line in this division and we scored a magnificent goal to win the game.

"I have to say that we were quite comfortable after that."

Sheffield United midfielder Slavisa Jokanovic told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"We played very well for 73 minutes, created a lot of chances, we weren't clinical enough. After that we made one big mistake, where the ball is flying in our side, we are still squeezed up and gave them the opportunity to catch us.

"The negative part of the game is definitely after this goal. We didn't show enough reaction and we didn't create and started to be confused and scared. We lost the game then.

"It's the story that's repeated a lot of times for us. What sensation I have from my position and what happened on the field is simple, it was an unnecessary mistake."

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