Sheffield United 1-4 Burnley: Survival hopes given major boost by convincing victory against bottom side

Vincent Kompany’s men knew they realistically had to win this encounter at Bramall Lane to stand any chance of staving off relegation in their final four games of the campaign.

That’s exactly what they did with a superb display in South Yorkshire, running out comfortable winners thanks to goals from Jacob Bruun Larsen, Lorenz Assignon, Lyle Foster and Johann Gudmundsson.

The Clarets finally showed a much-needed clinical edge in front of goal while at the other end, Aro Muric redeemed himself from his recent errors to make a string of vital stops.

Remarkably, Burnley have now scored nine goals against the Blades this season, meaning 22 per cent of their league goals this have come against Chris Wilder’s side.

But more importantly, the gap to safety is cut to just three points with Nottingham Forest - the side currently closest to the relegation zone - in action against Everton tomorrow.

Kompany opted to make two changes to the side that were held to a 1-1 draw against Brighton last week.

Dara O’Shea returned from suspension to reclaim his spot at centre back, which saw Hjalmar Ekdal drop back down to the bench.

Charlie Taylor was also drafted in for David Fofana, which saw Vitinho pushed forwards into a right-wing role.

Ameen Al-Dakhil, Jordan Beyer, Aaron Ramsey, Luca Koleosho and Nathan Redmond all remain sidelined.

As for the Blades, they made two changes from last weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Brentford.

James McAtee was one of those two changes and he almost set up an early goal for the Blades, providing a teasing cross for Oli McBurnie.

But Aro Muric redeemed himself for last week’s howler by making a huge save with his legs from point-blank range.

Burnley responded with a sustained spell of pressure, but the hosts once again threatened when a deflected cross looped up to the back post where former Ben Brereton-Diaz almost headed home.

The former Blackburn Rovers man found himself behind Burnley’s backline a few moments later but Muric again came to his side’s rescue with a big save.

For all of their possession, the Clarets had to wait until the 20th minute for their first opportunity but it was a good one. A corner was partially cleared to Vitinho whose driven shot was helped on its way by Lyle Foster, but his effort was straight at Ivo Grbic.

The Blades keeper was forced to rush off his goalline midway through the first-half after Sander Berge - the pantomime villain among the home fans - slipped a ball through to Jacob Bruun Larsen who rounded Grbic, but was unable to pull the ball back goalwards.

Foster then directed a goalbound header towards the top corner from Lorenz Assignon’s driven ball in but the header had little power on it and Grbic was able to collect fairly comfortably.

Muric produced another important stop, his third of the game, after Assignon had given the ball away in a really poor area of the pitch. The Blades worked the ball to McBurnie whose driven effort was well tipped over by the Kosovan.

The whole complex of the game spun on its head before half-time with Burnley scoring twice in the space of three minutes.

Both were scruffy efforts, but who cares at this point!? The first came from Bruun Larsen, whose shot took a wicked deflection to wrongfoot Grbic after the ball had fallen kindly to him from Wilson Odobert’s half-blocked effort.

Assignon instantly doubled the lead, driving past Brereton-Diaz and into the box before somehow squeezing the ball in at the near post. While Grbic got a leg to the full-back’s effort, he was only able to divert the ball into the roof of his net.

Burnley saw out the remainder of the half but inevitably came under some pressure at the start of the second.

Muric made another big stop, producing a strong hand to tip McAtee’s powerful effort behind.

At the other end, Assignon sensed a second when he drilled Charlie Taylor’s cross towards goal, but his effort was saved by Grbic to ironic cheers from the home crowd.

That turned out to be a game-changing moment, with the Blades grabbing a goal back merely seconds later when Gustavo Hamer curled a pinpoint effort beyond Muric and into the far corner. Assignon didn’t help matters by going to ground too easily, gifting Hamer the space to pick his spot.

Now firmly on top, the home side almost levelled in the 55th minute when Muric passed the ball straight to Brereton-Diaz, but the keeper again redeemed himself with an important save at his near post.

Just as the Blades were threatening a leveller, Burnley restored their two-goal cushion with a really smart finish from Foster.

The forward curled home with a clever first-time shot after Assignon had unselfishly teed him up inside the box.

By this point, the game was a chaotic, end-to-end affair. Burnley needed to calm things down and take the sting out of it.

They could easily have added a fourth, however, when a cross was played into the unmarked Vitinho, who could only direct a weak header straight at Grbic.

A fourth did finally arrive to the delight of the travelling Clarets when Johann Berg Gudmundsson curled home just seconds after coming off the bench to replace Vitinho.

Boos loudly rang out from the home stands while many Blades headed straight for the exits.

It could have got even worse for the Blades, with Gudmundsson denied a second when he thumped a superb first-time effort against the post at the back post.

Burnley saw out the game well, allowing the triumphant Clarets to bring back the “ole’s” as they kept hold of possession and keeping the Blades at arm’s bay.

TEAMS

Sheffield United: Grbic, Ahmedhodzic, Trusty, Bogle, Arblaster, McAtee, Souza (Archer), Osborn, Hamer (Norwood), McBurnie (Brooks), Brereton Diaz

Subs not used: Foderingham, Holgate, Larouci, Osula, Curtis, Slimane

Burnley: Muric, Assignon, O'Shea, Esteve, Taylor, Cullen, Berge, Vitinho (Gudmundsson), Bruun Larsen (Brownhill), Odobert (Amdouni), Foster (Fofana)

Subs not used: Trafford, Ekdal, Tresor, Rodriguez, Benson

Referee: Andy Madley

Attendance: 28,964