Sheffield United have reached the semi-finals of the League Cup after securing a shock 1-0 win against Premier League outfit Southampton in Tuesday evening's clash at Bramall Lane.
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Just three minutes into the game, the hosts came within a whisker of opening the scoring, Fraser Forster spilling a free kick into the crowd of players in front of him, but Jay McEveley's subsequent effort blasted against the crossbar.
The action then became cagey following the explosive start, as both teams struggled to get into gear. Play found itself bogged down in midfield with chances on goal few and far between.
In the 21st minute, Florent Cuvelier's free kick flew just wide of Forster's goal, while five minutes later, Mark Howard fumbled a ball at the other end of the pitch, but Sadio Mane failed to hit the target in the ensuing scramble.
The Blades found their feet towards the latter stages of the first half, with Harrison Reed and Cuvelier marauding down on goal and firing shots that whizzed just wide.
Three minutes after the restart, Southampton argued for a penalty when Florin Gardos's header was blocked by the arm of McEveley, but the referee waved away the appeals.
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The game opened up thereafter, with both sides coming close to opening the scoring on numerous occasions, none more so than when Jamie Murphy's inswinging cross was skilfully thwarted by an alert Forster after evading everyone in the box.
However, it was the League One outfit who broke the deadlock, as the Saints goalkeeper spilled Bob Harris's free kick just after the hour, with Marc McNulty pouncing to get the ball over the line.
Ronald Koeman's charges set about trying to level proceedings immediately, with Mane finding some space in the box in the 70th minute before firing a shot that Howard palmed away.
Despite this, United were dominant in the final stages, registering more chances to increase their tally, and found it even easier to hang on to their narrow lead after Gardos was sent off late on for the visitors.
Giuseppe Labellarte
