Sheffield United will give it their best shot to achieve European dream

For all that they pushed the Blades hard, it looks increasingly likely Norwich City will be relegated this season because their ruthlessness at either end has not matched the quality of their football.

Not that there was nothing between Henderson, who pulled off an incredible double save, and Billy Sharp, whose first-half header was Saturday’s only goal. The Blades paid £22m for Sander Berge to raise the standards and even though he is yet to impose the full range of his ability, he has already had that effect. John Lundstram has been outstanding since.

With the insatiable workrate of their team-mates providing the foundation, the trio added the quality which decides tight games.

If the first half of the season is about jostling for position, the second is about seeing it through. Improbable though it seemed in August, for the Blades that means qualifying for Europe, or at least finishing in the top half. An FA Cup trip to Wembley is a home win over Arsenal away, too.

“We don’t joke about it, we’re not going to hide away from it,” said Sharp on Saturday night. “We’re in sixth place at the minute so we might as well give it our best shot.

“This club’s never played in any of the European competitions so we just want to finish as high as we can and the lads are relishing it and embracing it. Why shouldn’t we dream? That’s what we’re here to do.”

It will not be straight-forward with the Gunners, Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea and Everton Bramall Lane’s remaining guests. That made Norwich the “easy” one, but it was anything but.

“We keep getting over the next hurdle and if they get knocked back, they keep coming back for more,” said manager Chris Wilder proudly.

For half-an-hour on Saturday, it was a bit of a struggle.

There were gasps when Teemu Pukki almost intercepted Jack O’Connell’s pass to John Egan in the 22nd minute, and groans when the latter hit his pass over the touchline. More followed when Oliver Norwood gave the ball away uncharacteristically easily. Pukki had already hit the post.

But when Sheffield United shook themselves out of it, Sharp pounced.

The Blades had just started to get on top, Egan having a shot blocked, Kenny McLean clearing a goalbound shot from O’Connell, when they worked the ball to the right.

Lundstram’s response to the arrival of Berge has been so exemplary it was the Norwegian watching from the bench for the first time in his Blades career, and the Merseysider starting. He is full of running and able to finish well when he arrives in the penalty area, but also an excellent crosser for a central midfielder, as he demonstrated in the 36th minute. When his centre came over, Sharp dived to thump a header which left Tim Krul helpless to react in time.

It was the cue for a spell of brilliance which made the half-time whistle an annoyance. Lundstram was at its heart, firing just wide then forcing a save.

Sharp has three goals in his last four games and two winners in a week but there is more to him than “just” scoring. He made Oli McBurnie’s fourth-minute header, and his cute lay-off from Norwood’s fizzed pass allowed Lundstram to get Krul’s kit muddy.

“It can’t be the case where you just come alive in the box,” argued Wilder. “The work he does out of possession was good but he has to link it, he has to stretch it and play as a nine, he has to play as a 10, he has to get in the box and finish, and his record speaks for itself.

“There were a lot of balls down the sides he got to first and especially in our good period in the first half, he linked play well.”

Led by Lundstram, the hosts pushed for a second after the interval but some outrageous Chris Basham skill which ended with him shooting over from a tight angle apart, the highlights came in Norwich’s last push for an equaliser.

Henderson did brilliantly to get down to Mario Vrancic’s 79th-minute effort, but better still to get up and deny Josip Drmic. He deserved David McGoldrick’s help on the line as the ball bounced around. Saves from Jamal Lowe and Ben Godfrey were finishing touches.

A United striker will not win the Premier League’s golden boot this season, but 10 clean sheets puts Henderson one behind Burnley’s Nick Pope for the golden gloves.

“When questions were asked of us in our box we answered them and one bit of quality decided the game,” said Wilder, who tried his hardest to laugh Henderson’s heroics off as a man just doing his job, but fooled no-one.

Lundstram ensured what went on in between was pretty decent too.