Stevenage Borough 4 Sheffield United 0: Blades’ poor defending punished in convincing manner by Lopez

Blades manager Danny Wilson commented: “We have saved up all our mistakes for one game and defensively we were second best throughout.”

United, hoping to register a first win at the Lamex Stadium, arrived second in the table, unbeaten in seven and having kept six consecutive clean sheets.

But Stevenage’s endeavours suggested that record would fall although they had to wait until five minutes before half-time before breaking through.

Dani Lopez became the first player to breach United’s defence in over 10 hours of football when he turned sharply and drove home from Miguel Comminges’s pass.

Lopez nearly doubled Stevenage’s lead straight from the re-start, but George Long expertly tipped his looping effort over the bar.

Within a minute of the second half getting underway, Dave Kitson nearly converted at the near post after Callum McFadzean’s burst forward and cross, but the ball was turned behind for a corner which was scrambled clear.

Three minutes later, Lopez claimed his and Stevenage’s second goal after escaping his markers from Gavin Mahon’s chip over the top of the visitors’ back line.

The Blades responded well and goalkeeper Steve Arnold did well to flick Harry Maguire’s header over the bar before a Stevenage defender had a lucky escape when heading against the underside of his own crossbar.

Lopez might have completed his hat-trick had he not snatched at his shot on 57 minutes. The Spaniard only had seven minutes to wait to make amends, scoring with an audacious, long-range and angled finish.

It was Lopez’s second hat-trick in the space of a week having also scored three during the final game of his loan spell at Barnet against Morecambe.

Lucas Akins piled on the agony with a low drive which seemed to deceive Long before nestling in the far corner of the net in the 68th minute.

Wilson bemoaned: “Stevenage will think they thoroughly deserved their four goals and the win, but that performance from us wasn’t good enough and mistakes have cost us the game.”

Stevenage: Arnold, Hills, N’Gala, Roberts, Comminges, Akins (Hoskins 86), Grant, Dunne, Mahon, Lopez (Tansey 79), Haber (Beleck 75). Unused substitutes: Day, Freeman, Iro, Shroot.

Sheffield United: Long, Maguire, Hill, McMahon, Murphy (McFadzean 10), Flynn (Forte 46), Doyle, McDonald, Robson, Kitson, Collins. Unused substitutes: Coyne, Westlake, Higginbotham, Porter, Poleon.

Referee: Mick Russell (Hertfordshire).

Man of the match: Dani Lopez.