Sheffield United 2 Luton Town 3: Own goals spoilt the mood after Blades comeback

Just when it looked like their Boxing Day might be a story of a change of formation rescuing three desperately-needed points, the Blades rewrote it as yet another tale of woe.

Chris Wilder's half-time rejig had been behind his side coming from behind to lead 2-1, only for own goals by Jack Robinson and Anis Slimane to condemn them to a defeat which means the Hatters have picked up five points on them since Friday.

Feeling sorry for themselves is the most dangerous thing Sheffield United can do right now but after Nicolo Zaniolo's equaliser for Aston Villa deep into stoppage time on Friday, it must be hard not to.

It would be wrong, though, to paint this defeat as just bad luck when the Blades had given their visitors a leg-up with some anaemic defending. Good teams make their own look and unfortunately, Wilder's does not fall into that category, whatever their spirit.

Apart from a cagey game at Chelsea, Wilder has ignored the formation on which his reputation was built at Bramall Lane but 45 minutes in, his 4-4-2 was not quite working.

It was not that the Blades were being outplayed – they had probably matched Luton, but when the decisive moment came, they were found seriously wanting.

Andros Townsend's inside-right position was causing Auston Trusty plenty of problems and it was dragging the defender inside that left the space for Alfie Doughty to run into, and score the opening goal from.

Many a time this season the Blades have started second halves better than they have kicked off games and this was no exception, but it probably owed a lot to Wilder switching to 3-5-2.

In the final analysis, though, it only made defeat harder to take for their supporters.

Released to right wing-back, George Baldock put a couple a couple of decent crosses over in the opening minutes and on the other side, the freshly-introduced Max Lowe drifted into goalscoring positions. Ineffective in the first half, James McAtee suddenly looked much brighter for having a man running outside him.

When Oli McBurnie and Anel Ahmedhodzic put the home side 2-1 up, it looked like they had salvaged something after an act of charity. Little did we know there were more to come.

Playing on the left of a midfield four, Gustavo Hamer offered nowhere near enough resistance as Doughty ran at him and his hopeful shot from a tight angle squeezed in off Wes Fodernigham to find the net with 18 minutes gone.

Luton grew on the back of it, Elijah Adebayo and Albert Sambi Lokonga having chances on the back of it, but Sheffield United weathered the storm, Hamer forcing Thomas Kaminski into the game's first decent save from a free-kick just after the half-hour.

On the back of it Andre Brooks failed to get hold of a shot under pressure but McAtee was very close to repeating his goal against Brentford.

The home fans were getting frustrated when their players were not passing the ball forwards but the half very nearly ended on a happier note, Trusty running onto a near-post corner in stoppage time and heading it against the bar.

With Lowe having a shot blocked and Hamer putting one over, the change of formation was doing the trick, but it needed some clear thinking from McAtee to make it count.

The crowd were appealing for a penalty when he went down under a 61st-minute tackle, but the Manchester City loanee was bright enough to get off the floor and pick out McBurnie, who sent the Kop wild with his finish.

They were happier still when Ahmedhodzic put the ball in after an almighty goallmouth scramble which saw McAtee slide in and Archer have two shots from about a yard each blocked.

But with 20 minutes to go, there was time for another twist, and this one was extremely cruel, two Blades players putting through their own net.

Wrestling with his man, glancing a header past Foderingham was all Robinson could do in the 77th minute and five minutes later Slimane was even more unfortunate, a pull-back from the former Barnsley striker bouncing off him and into the net.

The Blades changed shape again – back to a four – in a desperate search for an equaliser, but it was too late. Yet again, they had let a big opportunity pass them by.

Sheffield United: Foderingham; Baldock, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson (Brewster86), Trusty; McAtee, Souza (Norwood86), Brooks (Lowe 46), Hamer (Slimane 71); Archer (Osula 86), McBurnie.

Unused substitutes: Davies, Osborn, Norrington-Davies, Serikii.

Luton Town: Kaminski; Mengi, Osho, Bell; Giles (Ogbene 71), Lokonga, Barkley, Doughty; Townsend (Mpanzu 83), Brown; Adebayo (Morris 71).

Unused substitutes: Shea, Andersen, Berry, Woodrow, Chong, Krul.

Referee: S Allison (Wiltshire).