ANALYSIS: Sharp lesson for Sheffield United on a day of sheer frustration against Southampton

FRONTING up has never been a problem to Oli McBurnie - or Sheffield United for that matter.
Bramall Lane.Bramall Lane.
Bramall Lane.

After getting into a tangle during the international break after some daft comments about Scotland somehow managed to disseminate into the social media stratosphere and incur the wrath of Tartan Army supporters - including his father Neil - the Blades' record signing publicly took the rap and was aiming to get back into the good boots - and back to the day job against Southampton at Bramall Lane.

A striker who is honest as the day is long, wears his heart on his sleeve and can provide perspiration and touches of inspiration, the Scottish international was intent on making some rather more productive headlines for his club after a 'tough few weeks' in his words.

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It looked like that had tantalisingly arrived 52 minutes in - but ultimately the limelight, not for the reasons that most imaged, were reserved for Billy Sharp, who was dismissed against his former club just 18 minutes after coming on for McBurnie following a late challenge on fellow replacement Stuart Armstrong.

It was not Sharp's day or the Blades and definitely not McBurnie's.

Ghosting at the far post after a wonderful free-kick delivery on the right from Oli Norwood had caught Southampton cold, McBurnie buried the ball low past Angus Gunn, seemingly for his moment of atonement.

Then up popped the equivalent on the pantomime villain in VAR which judged that John Egan - who attempted to covert Norwood's set-piece moments before McBurnie did just that - was offside.

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It has been that sort of fortnight for McBurnie, with the Kop quick to vent their spleen at football's latest technological advancement.

A further kick in the solar plexus arrived on 66 minutes when Moussa Djenepo settled the issue after being the beneficiary of loose play from the hosts, with the notion of any mistake invariably getting punished in the top-flight - when you might get away with it in the Championship - ringing true.

Earlier, the competition for centre stage at the Lane with McBurnie arrived on the opposing side in former Blades striker Che Adams, who looked positively ravenous in his attempts to bite the hand that used to feed him.

The two sides went into the game with the tag of being the only teams in the top-flight yet to score in the first half of a league match this season.

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You would have never have guessed given the absorbing action in the opening 45 minutes in an open and hugely entertaining spectacle in the glorious autumnal sunshine.

McBurnie's main moment to conjure saw him tee up David McGoldrick for the sort of chance that he would have tucked away in his sleep in the Championship, but instead the striker was unconvincing when through on goal, with his effort blocked by Angus Gunn.

It came moments after a ferocious chance from Adams shuddered the post in a half in which the action was end to end for spells.

Chances were spurned, by Cedric and the returning John Fleck, while brilliance also came to the fore on 26 minutes when a magnificent reaction save from Dean Henderson saw him keep out Adams' downward header.

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Henderson also fielded a low shot from the lively Souifane Boufal, the final act of a quality first-half which painted both sides in a glowing light.

McBurnie looked to have made the breakthrough, only to be thwarted in mid-celebration before Adams came to the party again with a stinging drive parried by Henderson.

Despite receiving sympathetic applause when he exited the fray, McBurnie's frustration was soon compounded.

Soon after, Saints cashed in on uncharacteristic looseness from United, with John Lundstram's loose ball seized upon, with the ball finding Moussa Djenepo, who held off Norwood and waltzed past the attempted challenges of Jack O'Connell and Egan before firing a clinical low angled right-footed shot past Henderson.

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Lundstram came off not too long after, but not before Fleck almost levelled it up with a daisy-cutter from distance.

Chasing the game, the hosts showed trademark intent, but the fates were not kind.

Jan Bednarek got in the way of Fleck's goalbound shot and Gunn denied McGoldrick, who then blazed over.

Sharp's red mist added to the angst of home supporters, left to rue a combination of missed chances, VAR and a moment of casualness in the final analysis.Sheffield United: Henderson; Basham (Robinson 84), Egan, O'Connell; Baldock, Lundstram (Mousset 72), Fleck, Norwood, Stevens; McGoldrick, McBurnie (Sharp 65). Subs: Moore, L Freeman, Osborn, Besic.Southampton: Gunn; Cedric, Bednarek, Yoshida, Vestergaard; Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Hojbjerg; Boufal (Armstrong 85), Djenepo (Ings 74), Adams (Long 90). Substitutes unused: McCarthy, Stephens, Bertrand, Valery.Referee: L Mason (Lancashire).Attendance: 30,985.