The Blades went toe-to-toe with their illustrious namesakes and for spells were the better side, before Scott McTominay put the visitors ahead against the run of play. Oli McBurnie then equalised from the spot, after McTominay handled, before a screamer from defender Diego Dalot sealed all threee points for Erik ten Hag’s side.
Here’s how we rated United’s players on an evening of frustration and optimism ...
9. James McAtee 7
Had a big hand in the Blades’ equaliser, his right-footed cross blocked by the hand of McTominay, but almost undid his good work with a sloppy pass into dangerous territory that the visitors almost pounced on. A nice run in the second half saw him skip past a couple of challenges before Hamer fired over, before he made way for Osborn
10. Oli McBurnie 7.5
Had a good sight of goal in the opening exchanges as he tested Onana’s sometimes-shaky handling from long range but he may have been offside anyway as he latched onto Archer’s touch. Made amends with an ice-cool penalty, despite Onana’s best efforts to delay and delay and delay to put him off, and will have fancied making a nuisance of himself in the second half too before making way five minutes into it with what must have been another injury issue
11. Cameron Archer 6
Involved heavily early on and forced the best save from Onana early in the game with a well-struck effort from outside the box that looked to be searing into the bottom corner. Had a better chance later on after good United interplay sent him clear on goal from a tight angle, but Onana did well to spread himself and block the shot. Otherwise Archer was a nuisance to the visiting defence, but sometimes lacked the turn of pace, or speed of thought, to race away when the opportunity presented itself
12. Notable subs: Rhian Brewster
Came on for McBurnie and tackled McAtee with his first touch before steadying himself and almost scoring with his third, his shot swerving viciously in the air and forcing Onana to worriedly beat it away Photo: Cameron Smith