Sheffield United 0 Liverpool 2 - Defiant Ramsdale fails to stop Reds walking away with win

Premier League dreams have been tossed and blown for both Sheffield United and Liverpool in a dark 2020-21 campaign and while there are no sight of golden skies ahead, you walk on.

As Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder put it ahead of this game, the sun might not be shining, but it will shine again. Although he cannot say with any justification quite when.

Last season, this game attracted global attention and much fanfare amid a full house at Bramall Lane when Unitedites present must have felt they had finally arrived in the big time.

This time, this meeting was tucked away in the equivalent of the graveyard slot on Sunday evening, with barely one hundred words devoted to it in the sports pages of one of the leading national Sunday broadsheets.

The sight of Liverpool playing in a teal-coloured strip added to the surreal nature of proceedings and a sense of incongruity at a deserted stadium.

Unfortunately, there was nothing unusual about controversy making an appearance in another fixture involving the Blades.

It came at a key juncture early in the second half when the game was still goalless after Trent Alexander-Arnold powered forward in trademark fashion and cut the ball back right on the byline with plenty of conjecture as to whether it had gone out of play.

The VAR overlords ruled that it was a legitimate goal after doing their checks after Curtis Jones fired home. There was certainly nothing in doubt about his unerring finish.

Unfortunately, the hosts were also guilty of stopping for a split-second and it proved fatal and some meek defending for Liverpool’s killer second will also have been too soft for Wilder’s liking.

The beneficiary was Roberto Firmino – played through after an intricate one-two with Sadio Mane – but it was tremendously unfortunate on Aaron Ramsdale.

In a tough season on his Blades return, the young goalkeeper excelled himself and stopped everything Liverpool threw at him in the first half.

But he had no chance with Liverpool’s opener or the second on 64 minutes with Firmino’s effort taking a cruel deflection off Kean Bryan before nestling in his net – as the Merseysiders scored their 7,000th top-flight goal and breathed easy for once in a torrid 2021.

The strike – credited as an own goal – deadened a game in which the Blades contributed a fair bit, but chalked up another defeat.

It has been a season of upheaval for both the hosts and their visitors and one look at the teamsheet graphically illustrated that.

It was noticeable for who was missing as opposed to who was on it. Absentees included the Blades’ feted back three from those heady days of the previous few seasons and the widely-considered best defender in the world and an inspirational captain from the Liverpool ranks. There were others too.

At least, for Liverpool’s sake, there was still the presence of their ‘fab three’ in the shape of Mohamed Salah, Mane and Firmino – even if their pairing of Nathaniel Phillips and Ozan Kabak was their 19th different central-defensive axis this term at the other end.

Kabak, in particular, struggled in the first half and Oliver McBurnie got some joy against him, with boyhood Liverpool fan David McGoldrick also posting threat.

Adrian – in for Alisson who missed the game due to compassionate leave following the recent death of his father – blocked McGoldrick’s early point-blank header at the near post following a well-flighted free-kick from the recalled Oli Norwood.

McBurnie beat Kabak to tee up the Blades’ other key first-half opportunity for McGoldrick, with his precision shot taking a deflection off his striker partner, only for Adrian to make a scampering save.

An offside flag against McBurnie spared Kabak’s blushes when he put through his own net under pressure, but the major story was produced by Ramsdale at the other end.

His confidence bolstered by a top-drawer early save to make himself big to keep out a goalbound effort from Firmino, who surged through the middle, the Blades custodian excelled himself with three other excellent first-half saves to frustrate the visitors.

Salah showed a clean pair of heels to deceive Phil Jagielka who – at the age of 38 years and 195 days – became the oldest outfielder to start a Premier League game against Liverpool since Ryan Giggs in September 2013. But he reckoned without Ramsdale, who blocked with his legs.

Ramsdale then made a splendid tip-over to deny Alexander-Arnold and get Ethan Ampadu out of trouble in the process after his wretched cross-field pass and carried on the good work to keep out Georginio Wijnaldum’s fierce drive with Firmino falling to convert the rebound, instead attempting to play in Mane when it looked easier to score himself.

Should the game have stayed goalless for a lengthy spell, it may have preyed on the visitors’ minds. But their outlook was changed by the relief of a goal early on the resumption.

That said, Liverpool were provided with a reprieve when McBurnie planted a header wide from Norwood’s fine cross and then dallied when handed a sight of goal, with Kabak clearing.

Fortune then favoured them with Firmino’s strike and the game was theirs with Andy Robertson and Salah missing chances to add to Liverpool’s victory.

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