Rotherham get first win at Sheff Utd in 42 years

Sheffield United were denied the chance to go top of the Championship after South Yorkshire rivals Rotherham triumphed at Bramall Lane for the first time in 42 years.

Enda Stevens had the ball in the back of the net before the break as the Blades looked for an equaliser, but the deflected effort was ruled out for offside.

Viktor Johansson kept out a fierce shot from John Egan early in the second half and dealt with a late Oli McBurnie effort, while substitute Billy Sharp also headed wide for a Blades side who failed to take anything from a game they dominated.

Blades boss Paul Heckingbottom stuck with the same starting side from the one that overpowered leaders Burnley 5-2 on Saturday – a victory that gave Sheffield United the chance to overtake the Clarets if they win this South Yorkshire derby.

However, the hosts had to make an early change with John Fleck coming off injured to be replaced by James McAtee after just 20 minutes.

The Millers, who had six first-team players missing through injury, were the first to seriously threaten, with Wes Foderingham tipping a shot from Peter Kioso over the bar after he linked well with Cohen Bramall.

United struggled to create meaningful chances of their own before a failed clearance by Jack Robinson allowed Ogbene to beat Wiles for the only goal of the game in the 38th minute.

Stevens, who had a goal disallowed late in the first half, looked lucky not to give away a penalty deep into injury time at the end of the 45th minute when he tangled with Wiles in the area.

Sheffield United came out strong after the break with Egan testing Johansson, who was also equal with a glancing header from McBurnie in the 68th minute and fierce shot from the striker in the final minute.

While Burnley stunned the Millers with two stoppage-time goals – including a 100th-minute winner – last week to go top, Rotherham stubbornly refused to settle against the Blades, who remain third.

Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom:

“From the first moment we didn’t play with the same tempo and energy that we normally do.

“When you have a team that feels like, conceding the first goal is the last thing you want to happen. We just fell below our levels, there are probably reasons, but we fell below our levels as a team. We weren’t at our best.

“We could have won that game, of course we do, but we didn’t. I’m not saying we deserved to win, the stats might say we did, but we didn’t play with the same energy. We weren’t on our best as a group.”

Rotherham United boss Matt Taylor:

“We knew before the game, I said 1980 was a long time ago, I wasn’t born, but what would it be like for the fans to witness it.

“I used myself as an example because I’m a Man Utd fan and the games I remember growing up are United-City, United-Liverpool, United-Leeds, the ones that have a bit more spice about them.

“Local derbies mean more to the fans and it definitely meant more tonight.

“It means so much to the players because they’ve taken a few hits in the last few weeks and that’s never nice.”