Chris Wilder has offered his verdict on Sheffield United’s two penalty appeals in their draw with Bristol City, labelling the late scenes “nonsense” whilst admitting the Robins were more than deserving of their point at Bramall Lane.
The Reds stretched their unbeaten run in the Championship to six matches as they came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw against the Blades on Tuesday evening, with Mark Sykes’ late goal cancelling out Tyrese Campbell’s opener.
Campbell had given the home side the lead just after the hour mark when he calmly slotted past Max O’Leary after a smart pass from Rhian Brewster. It looked like that would be enough to secure the win until Robins substitute Sykes smashed into the bottom corner in the 90th minute to ensure the points would be shared in the Steel City.
The drama didn’t end there however as the Blades saw two late penalty appeals waved away by referee Stephen Martin. The first came when Cam Pring gave his man a slight push in the City penalty area and the second when some in red and white felt the ball hit Joe Williams‘ hand in the box.
Although the Sheffield United players appeared to feel both incidents were worthy of a spot-kick, their manager was less convinced, insisting Martin had got “everything spot on” over the course of the 90 minutes.
“The bit at the end, I think it’s nonsense,” Wilder said in his post-match press conference. “I don’t think there was anything in any of those decisions from a penalty point of view.
“I thought the referee was consistent, he’s a good referee and I think he got, in my opinion, I think he got everything spot on and it was just the frustration at the end from our point of view. I think the players will be more frustrated with individual performances than refereeing decisions.”
While it took a late goal for Liam Manning’s side to snatch a late point, City had more than enough chances to secure more than that at Bramall Lane on Tuesday night.
Sinclair Armstrong was denied his first goal since November when Michael Cooper excellently hauled his headed effort off of the goalline in the first half while Scott Twine, Haydon Roberts and Jason Knight all tried their luck before the break. However, the Blades had opportunities of their own to stretch their lead further before Sykes’ leveller.
Despite his frustration with his own side’s performance, Wilder was keen to praise City for their display after the full-time whistle, admitting the Reds’ midfield box allowed Manning’s side to control the game in the opening exchanges.
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“I don’t think it was anything that they didn’t deserve really,” the Blades boss said. “They controlled the game first half. They had the threat of [Sinclair] Armstrong who is a powerful runner and we sat too deep.
“Our two midfield players sat too deep and their box caused us problems. They controlled the game even though we had the best chances, I think we had three or four really good chances so that changes the attitude of the game.
“I made a couple of changes after what, 55, 60 minutes? We wrestled that control back and scored ourselves a great goal. Great bit of interplay by Rhian and then we were ok, but not dominant and physically, when you’re lacking the energy, mentally, you make some really poor decisions.
“I thought the players, if I’m honest performance-wise, there were more fives and sixes than sevens or eights. I should imagine, if you were looking at their team, there were more sevens and eights than fives and sixes.”