Wigan Athletic 1 Sheffield United 2: Another Blades win but they make heavy weather of victory once more

When for 45 minutes at the DW Stadim they pummeled Wigan Athletic without knocking them out, you wondered if they would fall into the same trap they had a fortnight earlier, when they were made to sweat on a 1-0 for an uncomfortable second period at home to Huddersfield Town.

As Billy Sharp caressed the ball into the net after 56 minutes, it seemed Paul Heckingbottom's side had learnt their lesson but no, they found another way to make their lives uncomfortable.

When all is said and done, results are what matter and Monday night's final score was Wigan 1 Sheffield United 2, a sixth victory in seven for them, but in a 46-game slog of a season it pays to win efficiently when you can. The more petrol in the tank going into the Christmas period, the better.

Once Sharp made it 2-0 against a side who were starting to look as easy on the opposition as the eye, the Blades got sloppy and they quickly got punished.

Anel Ahmedhodzic's swipe at fresh air was a warning sign and when James McClean put a cross in, not for the first time Wes Foderingham's glovework was not what it ought to have been. Nathan Broadhead gobbled the tap-in he served up and with 65 minutes gone, it was game on again.

The strange thing was that compared to their hosts, the Blades often looked the more streetwise. The Latics tried to play pretty patterns in new manager Kolo Toure's first home game against a physical and fast Blades team. They dominated the first-half possession and the visitors monopolised the goal threat but passed up numerous opportunities to add to John Egan's eighth-minute header.

Sander Berge was back in the Blades' starting line-up for the first time since October 4 and with the likes of Egan, Ahmedhodzic and Ciaran Clark for company, it made for a big away team. Not that the Blades were playing route one football by any means but when they poured forward on the counter-attack, the combination of power and pace was fairly formidable.

After seven minutes Sharp was unable to direct his volley from a cross which came behind him on goal and shortly after Iliman Ndiaye and Berge had shots blocked one after the other.

The dam did not take long to burst, Egan using his height to good advantage and producing a bullet header at Oliver Norwood's corner.

The Blades ought to have flooded through at that point, but did not.

An excellent Berge cross was cut out and when it found its way to Norwood, his shot was blocked. Sharp's backheel played James McAtee in but Jamie Jones saved.

The best chance of all came in the 39th minute, created by Ndiaye's twinkling feet to make himself space and release McAtee for a pull-back but Berge's shot was too weak. Norwood ended the half with a shot at the keeper.

When Norwood latched onto a sloppy pass and combined with Ndiaye to create Sharp's second goal in as many games on the resumption, it felt like the second half might be routine after all. It was not.

Wigan had a fervent penalty appeal when the ball was hammered at George Baldock in the 64th minute.

In the lottery of the modern-day handball rule, anything is possible but the Blades’ numbers came up, referee Dean Whitestone taking the defender's side.

Broadhead's goal was the first the Blades had conceded in four matches.

Replays showed he was offside but if you want to complain about things like that, you really should do your own job properly first.

As Heckingbottom threw on forward-thinking substitutes to try to force the issue, Wigan's threat remained.

Ahmedhodzic's intervention to stop the freshly-introduced Ashley Fletcher tapping an 85th-minute cross in from yards out was crucial.

As Jones dithered on the ball in the third-added minute it looked like Wigan were feeling every bit as self-destructive but he used the time to measure up an accurate welly upfield to Max Power, whose shot lived up to his surname but was also wildly off target.

Still, it was an awkward end to the match the Blades could do without. The good news was that for the second match in a row, no harm was done.

They moved to within three points of leaders Burnley at the halfway point of their season.

Wigan Athletic: Jones; Darikwa (Nyambe 60), Whatmough (Edmonds-Green 31), Tilt, Bennett (Aasgaard 60); Power, Naylor (Cousins 46); Lang, Keane (Fletcher 84), McClean; Broadhead. Unused substitutes: Amos, Shinnie.

Sheffield United: Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Clark; Baldock, Norwood, Berge, Stevens; McAtee (Doyle 79); Ndiaye (Khadra 87), Sharp (McBurnie 79). Unused substitutes: Davies, Basham, Lowe, Bogle.

Referee: D Whitestone (Northampton)