Sheffield United 2-0 West Brom: Blades seal Premier League promotion
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Sheffield United will join Burnley in the Premier League next season
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.
Success on the pitch despite uncertainty off it
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.
Sander Berge's opening goal eased any nerves Sheffield United had before the 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.
Analysis - Timely jackpot for Blades
BBC Radio Sheffield sports editor Andy Giddings
Sheffield United have hit a timely jackpot. Not for the first time in the Blades' recent history has the team's on-field success masked off field financial issues.
This great squad of experienced pros - such as John Egan, Ollie Norwood, George Baldock and Billy Sharp - and highly talented youngsters, like Tommy Doyle and James McAtee, have dealt with all challenges remarkably well - not least the mid-to-late season threat to their promotion from Middlesbrough and Luton.
There's star quality, too, from the enigmatic Iliman Ndiaye; all Blades fans will be hoping promotion wards off any suitors.
Equally they'll hope to see that Sheffield United have learnt lessons from their previous time in the top flight to put them on a far firmer footing for many years to come.
Reaction - 'What I've wanted my whole life'
Blades' goalscorer Anel Ahmedhodzic told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"It's amazing. After scoring that second goal it felt like a big relief and I was thinking to myself 'this is it, this is the Premier League, this is what I've wanted my whole life.
"Big credit to the lads, we fought like a team."
Sheffield United striker Oli McBurnie:
"What a feeling. The best feeling I've experienced in football. A bit of relief in there, we wanted to get it done tonight, we didn't want it dragging on.
"We weren't at our best but somehow we found a way to win. The boys have been excellent all season and it's such a pleasure to play with them. It's time for the fans to enjoy and for us to enjoy."
Blades goalscorer Sander Berge:
"An unbelievable moment, a fantastic journey, to do it now in front of our own crowd feels amazing.
"Every game is brutal in the Championship but we had one target and I think we did it in style.
"I've never scored such an important goal which meant that much and to do it on this stage is just the best feeling ever."