Sheffield United earned a date with Tottenham Hotspur within the FA Cup fifth spherical with a nervy 3-1 victory over Wrexham on Tuesday night.
Anel Ahmedhodzic fired house the opener early within the second half however Paul Mullin equalised from the penalty spot and missed the possibility to put Wrexham forward from 12 yards just some moments later.
As we ready for one more 90-minute draw between these two, Billy Sharp struck within the dying embers to finish Wrexham’s Hollywood story, earlier than Sander Berge sealed the victory quickly after.
The early minutes had been dominated utterly by Sheffield United, whose greatest risk got here from corners, though Wrexham created half-chances of their very own by way of the energetic Jacob Mendy out on the left.
The hosts ought to have taken the lead on the half-hour mark as James McAtee raced by way of on objective unopposed, however fairly than set Iliman Ndiaye up for a simple tap-in, the teen opted to try to shoot previous Rob Lainton and as a substitute despatched his effort broad of the put up. It would have been the simplest objective of Ndiaye’s profession.
Lainton was then known as on to make a superb save to deny Ahmedhodzic, whose thunderous close-range strike after some very good work from Ndiaye was properly saved out.
Ben Tozer’s strike from distance, which was strong however comfortably saved by Adam Davies, was as shut as Wrexham got here to scoring in a primary half wherein they may have been pretty happy with their work in opposition to superior opposition.
A barrage of Tozer throw-ins kicked off the second half, however Ahmedhodzic put Sheffield United forward 5 minutes in, firing house after a sensible go from McAtee.
Sharp might have added a second quickly after however his strike was once more saved properly by Lainton from shut vary, and Wrexham went straight down the opposite finish and earned themselves a penalty as Mullin was dragged down by Ahmedhodzic, though replays confirmed the contact might have been outdoors the field. The striker made no mistake, lashing his effort into the again of the web.
With 20 minutes to go, Mullin received his facet yet one more penalty, beating Oliver Norwood to the ball. This time, nevertheless, his effort was properly saved by Davis.
Sharp thought he’d bagged a late winner with just some minutes remaining, however he had strayed offside and was appropriately picked up by the official.
However, midway by way of the six minutes of stoppage time, Sharp did get his winner. A mistake from Harry Cleworth noticed the veteran striker gifted a run on objective, and his low effort struck the again of the web to break Wrexham hearts.
Sander Berge netted one other quickly after, leaving the end in little doubt.
GK: Adam Davies – 7/10 – Not notably busy however made a superb save to deny Mullin’s second penalty.
CB: Anel Ahmedhodzic – 7/10 – Had a great likelihood to open the scoring within the first half earlier than lastly doing so early within the second. Foolish determination to give away the penalty, nevertheless.
CB: John Egan – 7/10 – An enormous aerial risk. Caused chaos when up from the again for corners.
CB: Jack Robinson – 7/10 – Involved rather a lot as United seemed to assert their dominance down the left wing.
RM: Chris Basham – 5/10 – Felt a bit uncomfortable on this wing-back function and did not take pleasure in his sporadic battles with Mendy.
CM: Sander Berge – 8/10 – Slow on the ball within the first half however considerably extra impactful after the break. Took his objective very properly to kill the sport off.
CM: James McAtee – 6/10 – Generally alright however can’t get away along with his determination to shoot fairly than go for a simple opener. Did his greatest to make up for it with an help for the opener.
CM: Ismaila Cheick Coulibaly – 6/10 – Enjoyed some good moments on the ball. Given loads of freedom as he bombed forwards to try to overload Wrexham’s again line.
LM: Ben Osborn – 7/10 – Superb supply from corners and broad areas. Seemed to be placing the ball wherever he wished it within the first half.
ST: Billy Sharp – 7/10 – Just a few good strikes however struggled to discover house in opposition to Wrexham’s compact defence. Profited from a mistake to lastly make the distinction.
ST: Iliman Ndiaye – 6/10 – Similarly, some good moments however nothing to write house about. Perhaps strayed offside in his run with McAtee.
Substitutes
Oliver Norwood (68′ for Coulibaly) – 4/10 – Gave away a penalty after simply two minutes. Bailed out by his goalkeeper.
Max Lowe (77′ for Ahmedhodzic) – 6/10 – Didn’t do an entire lot.
Andre Brooks (98′ for McAtee) – N/A
Manager
Paul Heckingbottom – 5/10 – Struggled to give you the strikes mandatory to break this defence down. Can’t be important of his use of the bench, given the dearth of choices out there.
GK: Rob Lainton – 8/10 – Some very good saves to hold the rating degree within the first half. Didn’t appear like a goalkeeper who hadn’t performed a lot soccer.
CB: Max Cleworth – 5/10 – Just a few shaky moments on what was undeniably the weaker facet of Wrexham’s defence. Really unlucky to make such a vital error late on.
CB: Ben Tozer – 6/10 – Unfortunate to be caught out for the opening objective.
CB: Harry Lennon – 7/10 – Another who defied his restricted minutes. Threw himself at every part that got here his manner.
RM: Anthony Forde – 5/10 – Offered little or no cowl for Cleworth. Couldn’t sustain with Osborn in any respect. Poor consciousness for an opportunity to play Mullin by way of on objective.
CM: James Jones – 5/10 – Similarly, ran ragged by United’s left facet. Looked a little bit off the tempo.
CM: Luke Young – 7/10 – Really put himself about within the second half as Wrexham grew into the sport.
CM: Andy Cannon – 6/10 – Kept issues ticking properly when he received the possibility. Put himself about properly to disrupt the house facet’s play.
LM: Jacob Mendy – 6/10 – Looked very energetic when he was on the ball, though did not get as many probabilities as he’d like to.
ST: Paul Mullin – 7/10 – Predictably remoted however put in an absolute monster shift. Held his personal in opposition to United’s defence and made the telling affect from the penalty spot. Tweaked his hamstring with a defensive problem however refused to the substituted off… till he was taken off seconds later.
ST: Sam Dalby – 5/10 – Had the odd strong second however was largely out of the sport. A troublesome event to try to make an affect.
Substitutes
Liam McAlinden (60′ for Mendy) – 6/10 – Not as impactful as Mendy however nonetheless prompted a handful of points.
Ollie Palmer (60′ for Dalby) – 6/10 – Put himself about properly at each ends of the sector.
Tom O’Connor (74′ for Lennon) – 6/10 – Limited time to make an affect.
Jake Bickerstaff (82′ for Mullin) – N/A
Elliot Lee (82′ for Cannon) – N/A
Manager
Phil Parkinson – 7/10 – Will be delighted along with his group’s shift. Good substitutions to flip the tide in Wrexham’s favour.