Sheffield United 1 Portsmouth 0: Blackman’s penalty gives lukewarm Blades victory

For the first time this season, the Blades occupy one of the automatic promotion places after maintaining the only remaining unbeaten record in the Football League with a hard-fought victory over Portsmouth.

Nick Blackman’s second-half penalty was enough to ensure the home support among the 18,946 hardy souls who braved a cold South Yorkshire evening were able to hail another three points at the final whistle.

Not, however, that last night was without its anxious moments with the Blades making their fans sweat – quite an achievement amid such low temperatures – with a disjointed display.

Akos Buzsaky went the closest to capitalising for the visitors with the Hungarian’s spectacular 
40-yard effort in the first half crashing against a post with George Long beaten.

United’s teenage goalkeeper also had to be alert after the break to keep out Johnny Ertl, while another Bramall Lane old boy, Jon Harley, was only denied what seemed a simple chance by a wonderfully timed last-gasp tackle by Tony McMahon.

All that, though, mattered little come 9.37pm as United celebrated a third straight win and a return to the top two of League One for the first time since the penultimate weekend of last season.

The goal that means United are two points clear of third-placed Crawley Town going into a weekend of FA Cup first-round action was a simple affair.

Kevin McDonald started the move with a long pass down the right flank that Chris Porter latched on to after cleverly staying onside by nipping back into his own half as the ball was released. With a head start on the visitors’ defence, the United striker raced into the area only to be up-ended by a clumsy challenge from Lubomir Michalik.

The former Leeds United defender protested long and hard along with Pompey captain Gabor Gyepes over the linesman flagging for a foul but the official got it right.

All that was left was for Blackman to stroll up, perform his customary check manoeuvre to wrong-foot the goalkeeper before rolling the ball to Mikkel Andersen’s right.

A quarter of the game still remained as the summer signing from Blackburn Rovers celebrated his eighth goal of the season but Portsmouth rarely looked like rewarding the 580 fans who had followed the club north.

That the Blades had ground out another 1-0 win – their sixth this term – meant a largely uninspiring evening had ended on a high for Danny Wilson’s side.

In the first half there had been little to commend the game as, but for a couple of flashes of brilliance, needless errors and poor execution abounded from both teams.

Buzasky’s 40-yard effort in the 10th minute was the big exception, while the Blades’ best effort came early with just 23 seconds having elapsed when Blackman brought a save from Andersen.

Those two openings apart, however, any chances that did come along during the first period were invariably down to mistakes by the opposition or the odd decent delivery from a set-piece.

An uncharacteristic error from Harry Maguire, for instance, allowed Izale McLeod – one of four ex-Blades in the visiting ranks – a clear sight at goal that the much-travelled Portsmouth striker wasted with a wild effort.

Scott Allan was also allowed to run from just inside his own half unchallenged before the United backline belatedly woke up to force the on-loan West Brom man wide enough to make his eventual shot a difficult one.

The closest the Blades went in that first half was when Neill Collins and Porter were left unmarked to head just wide to ensure that honours remained even when referee Mike Russell mercifully brought a temporary end to proceedings.

After the break, matters did improve with United clearly intent on trying to play at a faster tempo as Maguire turned smartly inside the Pompey area before screwing his shot wide and then Gyepes had to be alert to cut out a dangerous cross from Michael Doyle.

At the other end, Ertl brought a reflex save from Long then Buzsaky wasted a promising free-kick situation by dragging his effort wide.

Once the breakthrough had come via Blackman’s trusty eye from 12 yards, United’s sole focus was to see out the remaining 24 minutes – something they managed in comfortable fashion to ensure Portsmouth’s 57-year wait for a win at Bramall Lane goes on.

Sheffield United: Long; McMahon, Maguire, Collins, Hill; Flynn, Doyle, McDonald, Williams (Cresswell 89); Blackman (Miller 89), Porter. Unused substitutes: Westlake, McAllister, Cofie, Ironside, Willis.

Portsmouth: Andersen; Dumbuya, Michalik, Gyepes, Dickinson; Buzsaky, Williamson, Ertl (Rodgers 78), Harley (Harris 74); Allan, McLeod. Unused substitutes: Thompson, Walker, Compton, Eastwood, Webster.

Referee: M Russell (Hertfordshire).