Diogo Dalot scored the kind of goal that Sir Bobby Charlton plundered by the barrel-load in his Manchester United days, and it settled an absorbing muck-and-nettles contest against struggling Sheffield United.
It’s no secret that the Reds have slipped some distance from the days of Sir Bobby – many fans would now accept far less than the heights he scaled in his heyday – but the death of Manchester United’s greatest ever player cast a long shadow over this fixture, after the news broke four hours before kick-off.
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Charlton was part of the fabric of football, not just his old club. All sides of Bramall Lane stood and partook in the minute’s applause before kick-off – a mark of the esteem in which he was held over the Pennines, across the country and beyond. Erik ten Hag suggested some of his squad were inspired to mark the occasion with a win, Dalot among them.
Harry Maguire may not belong in the same class as Charlton – few of Ten Hag’s crop do – but United were given a timely reminder of the importance of leadership as they came under siege under the Saturday‑night lights. The kind of leadership Sir Matt Busby harnessed when Charlton made his breakthrough alongside Duncan Edwards et al.
Clearly at home in the South Yorkshire rough and tumble, Maguire embodied the United spirit on this unique occasion. He was applauded by the home supporters of his boyhood Blades before kick-off and then produced a man-of-the-match display to silence his many critics. He got an ovation from the visiting fans at the end as well.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that United have a 94% win rate with Maguire in the starting lineup over the past 12 months. OK, he could have joined West Ham in the summer, but with neither Lisandro Martínez or Raphaël Varane fit to start, Ten Hag was glad to have a leader in the man he took the captaincy away from.
“Harry is playing like we want him to,” said Ten Hag. “He’s being proactive, he’s dominating his opponent, stepping in, reading the game but he’s also very proactive in possession, vertical passing, good switches. I’m very happy for him.”
Bruno Fernandes led from the front too, setting aside his recent patchy form to set up Scott McTominay’s 28th-minute opener, and maintaining his menace in the second half to dovetail with the substitutes Christian Eriksen and Alejandro Garnacho; together they prompted a marked improvement from the visitors to run out deserved winners.
Fernandes and Sofyan Amrabat struck the woodwork as United sought to re-establish their lead after the Blades equalised via Oli McBurnie’s penalty, which was slotted past André Onana after McTominay’s handball. But where his two teammates had narrowly erred Dalot did not, screaming home a 20-yard drive that ignited red flares in the away contingent. Garnacho had been the necessary spark on the pitch, combining with Victor Lindelöf who then squared for Dalot to seal it.
It was no less than the men from Manchester had warranted, a strike Sir Bobby would have been proud of – albeit the display was far from vintage, Sir Bobby-era United. As Ten Hag said: “First half it wasn’t the standard of Sir Bobby Charlton. Second half was better.”
McBurnie and Sheffield United reflected on an opportunity missed. “That is probably the story of our season,” he said. “We have been in a lot of games. It is tough to take. It’s unfortunate because I think the boys have defended really well for a lot of the game and the right-back sticks one in the bin from 25 yards.”
His manager, Paul Heckingbottom, was emboldened by his side’s performance but they are still without a win. “Today we had more of an all-round threat, but I still thought we could have been better,” he said.
A second successive hard-fought 2-1 win over one of the Premier League’s lesser lights will do little to sway Ten Hag’s critics. Here, he was indebted to Dalot, to Garnacho and, whisper it, to the Sheffield steel of Maguire, too.
“I felt with the win we gave a little bit of joy on a sad day,” was Dalot’s conclusion.
