Stansfield seals it late as Blues edge Blades in thriller

Birmingham City 2–1 Sheffield United

Attendance: 16,367

First Half

Birmingham started brightly and took the lead after just five minutes. Sheffield United’s No. 37 played a poor back-pass to his goalkeeper, and Demarai Gray pounced, beating Davies to the ball before squaring for Kyogo Furuhashi to tap into an empty net.

The hosts threatened again soon after, with Kyogo dragging a quick effort from a Tomoki Iwata pass wide. Sheffield United’s best early chance came in the ninth minute, when Ukaki fired just over following a neat move between Soumaré and Marsh.

Robinson was booked in the 14th minute for an off-the-ball incident involving Kyogo, and Klarer later headed just wide from a free-kick. Kyogo had another golden opportunity on 41 minutes, going one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but was unable to generate enough power with the outside of his boot.

Half-time: Birmingham 1–0 Sheffield United

Second Half

Birmingham made two changes at the break, with Peck replacing O’Hare and Anderson coming on for Gray. Sheffield United made a triple substitution on 56 minutes, before Birmingham replaced Kyogo with Stansfield a minute later.

On 72 minutes, Gus Hamer produced a moment of magic, scoring from the halfway line with Sheffield United’s first shot on target to level the match. Stansfield was booked a minute later for dissent, before Birmingham introduced Dykes for Leonard on 75 minutes.

With the match in the balance, Birmingham struck again in the 87th minute. Stansfield turned superbly inside the box, and his shot took two deflections before beating Davies.

Full-time: Birmingham City 2–1 Sheffield United

Scorers:

5’ Kyogo (BIR)

72’ Hamer (SHU)

87’ Stansfield (BIR)