Sheffield United 2 Norwich City 1: It's about time we got a last-minute winner, claims relieved Wilder

The game was locked at 1-1, after Jordan Rhodes had cancelled out John Egan's opener, before skipper Sharp grabbed the winner.

Chris Wilder handed starts to Ollie Norwood and Ben Woodburn, and the Blades made a bright start.

A clever corner routine picked out John Fleck, unmarked, 25 yards out, but he drilled his effort just wide of Tim Krull's goal.

Norwood fired over, and from the resulting corner Egan headed home to nudge United in front.

Rhodes - the striker on loan from Sheffield Wednesday - should have equalised, but headed wide from eight yards out.

But City were level moments later, and Rhodes was the scorer. Onel Hernandez produced neat footwork to beat his marker, and the low cross was converted by Rhodes, who celebrated in front of the Kop.

Woodburn was replaced by Ryan Leonard at half-time, but Jack O'Connell went close to restoring the home side's lead.

He got on the end of Norwood's cross, but Krull safely collected the ball.

Blades goalkeeper Dean Henderson came to his side's rescue on 64 minutes, after Norwich broke clear.

Moritz Leitner raced clear, one-on-one, but Henderson produced a fantastic save to keep the scores level.

Rhodes then hit the post, Teemu Pukki scooping the ball over from four yards out, as the game opened up.

At the other end, Leonard was off target with a head as Billy Sharp continued to look a threat.

Norwood - impressive all afternoon in United's midfield - then picked out Egan, but the defender's header flashed wide of Krull's right-hand post.

Sharp found space inside the box, but opted to cross for partner Leon Clarke, and the ball was cleared by a relieved Canaries back line.

Deep into stoppage time, the Blades grabbed a late winner, Sharp bundling home after David McGoldrick’s back-post header.

United boss Wilder said: “It’s about time we got a last-minute winner. There have been some cruel results over the last 12 months at Bramall lane, but now we’ve won a tight game against a talented team.

“I felt the best chances fell our way, but there’s nothing better than a last-minute winner for everybody and it’s about time it went our way.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks. We started in a manner we didn’t want to but credit to the lads with an away win at QPR and to win a tight game shows what we’re all about.

“Our skipper scored a goal in the 93rd minute, we kept going and we kept going and deserved the win and that’s how it is.

“We were on the floor two or three time last year. Bristol City did it to us, Aston Villa did it to us and a few others did, too.

“I thought we came in at half time feeling a bit sorry for ourselves with the manner of the goal, maybe because of the manner of the goal. I thought we started very brightly but lost a bit of belief when they scored, but the lads got back on the bike and showed they’re proper footballers.”

Norwich boss Daniel Farke said: “Like always in football, when you concede in the last minute it is frustrating, it’s really tough to take because we got the feeling we were so close to a really good result.

“There were periods in the game which were good for us, big chances to go in the lead and to win the game. Even a draw away at Bramall Lane is a solid result. I felt we had the best chance of the game but to come home without a point is tough particularly after conceding in the last second of the game.

“There’s always room for improvement, I got the feeling it was a good game because there were two teams that really wanted to win this game.

“Sheffield in the first 15/20 minutes were on the front foot and deserved to lead, although we dictated the second half of the first half.

“In general it’s not so much about the performance of the players but football will always be determined by small situations and we have to be focused, concentrated and clinical in using our chances.”