Sheffield United 2-2 West Ham United: Oli McBurnie scores 103rd-minute penalty to help Blades draw
- Published
- comments
Were West Ham 'cheated' by penalty calls?
Sheffield United's Oli McBurnie scored the latest goal in the Premier League, dispatching a 103rd-minute penalty to rescue a point for Sheffield United against West Ham.
Sheffield United were awarded the spot-kick in the 98th minute when Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola took out McBurnie.
And having been made to wait to take it, the forward smashed his effort beyond substitute stopper Lukasz Fabianski with Areola forced to leave the pitch after receiving treatment.
West Ham had been cruising towards a 2-1 victory after James Ward-Prowse's successful penalty in the 79th minute.
Maxwel Cornet had given the Hammers a first-half lead with his first goal for the club before Ben Brereton Diaz equalised on the stroke of half-time on his Premier League debut.
In second-half injury time, the match intensified with two red cards and two penalty shouts.
Sheffield United substitute Rhian Brewster was sent off after video assistant referee intervention (VAR) for a high, late tackle on Emerson.
And Vladimir Coufal was given a yellow card for demanding Brewster's sending off, before receiving a second booking minutes later for a cynical trip.
The drama continued even after the Blades' late equaliser, with the Hammers wanting a late penalty of their own after Jarrod Bowen went down in the area.
Late leveller gives Blades reasons to be cheerful
Sheffield United 2-2 West Ham United: Chris Wilder says Blades deserved to get draw
Despite scoring their late leveller, Sheffield United still remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, seven points off safety.
No team has ever survived with fewer points in the Premier League at this stage of the season, but there were plenty of reasons to be cheerful for Blades supporters.
Ben Brereton Diaz, playing in his second match for the hosts, deservedly levelled from close range in the first half, smashing in a rebound after Areola did well to keep out William Sousa.
It was his first goal in 29 games for club and country and the Chile forward, on loan from Villarreal, could have put Sheffield United 2-1 up in the second half but dragged an effort wide after it was put through by James McAtee.
Meanwhile, McBurnie's late equaliser helped the substitute become the first Blades player to score in four consecutive home top-flight matches.
Going forward, Chris Wilder's side are capable of finding the net. Defensively though, problems still exist.
After Cornet's opener they became only the third team to concede 50 goals after 21 games or fewer in a Premier League campaign, emulating Barnsley in 1997-98 and West Brom in 2020-21.
Pressure mounts for West Ham boss Moyes
Moyes 'not pleased at all' with West Ham
At full-time, sections of the West Ham fanbase were questioning manager David Moyes' position on social media.
West Ham are winless in their past four matches and were knocked out of the FA Cup last week but they are still sixth in the league table and remain in Europe having won the Europa Conference League last term.
Moyes' decision to replace winger Cornet with full-back Ben Johnson was met with boos and chants of "you don't know what you're doing" by some visiting supporters midway through the second half.
But, despite rumblings of discontent from the away end, victory looked almost certain up until Coufal's 97th-minute red card which made the fixture 10 versus 10.
And in the final seconds Bowen and Sheffield United defender Anel Ahmedhodzic clashed in the area trying to reach Ben Johnson's cross, but the Hammers forward was penalised for handball with West Ham players certain they should have been awarded a second penalty.