Sheffield United v West Ham: Premier League – live | Premier League

46 min Peep peep!

Sheffield United are making a half-time substitution Oli McBurnie for Will Osula, who might be injured as he played well in the first half.

Half-time reading

Bottom-feeder latest

“Not a fan of most Americanisms (esp ‘get-go’ and ‘standout’, not to mention ‘quarterbacking from deep’), but I quite liked the following effort,” says John Moloney. “I once (back in my military days, Boer War era) asked a young USAF officer wtf was going on. His reply was ‘no use asking me, sir, I am so low down the food chain I got plankton bites on my butt’. I never did find out wtf was going on however.”

“We’re all friends here, right?” says Simon McMahon. “Good, so please forgive me for mentioning that the World Indoor Bowls final is just about to start, featuring two Scots, and that this companion piece to the Scotland men’s football team boogie-ing in the changing room, once seen, cannot be unseen.”

“The careers of both Brereton Diaz and Maxwel Cornet seemed to have derailed this season, and so from a human perspective it’s lovely to see both of them on the scoresheet,” says Kári Tulinius. “It’s always sad to see a talented, skilful footballer struggle to show their best. These goals could spark a revival for both scorers.”

I’m not sure it will for Cornet, as he’s so far down the cab rank at West Ham, but it certainly could for Brereton Diaz. My colleague Michael Butler, who supports Blackburn, says he tended to score goals in clusters when he was at Ewood Park.

It’s also interesting that, even at a time when his confidence was low, his instinct kicked in and reminded him how good a finisher he can be.

Half time: Sheffield United 1-1 West Ham

45+2 min Osula, who has been a handful for the West Ham defence, makes space for a shot that hits Mavropanos and flies over the bar.

45+1 min A dodgy squarew pass almost puts Sheffield United in trouble again, but Corner dithers and is dispossessed on the edge of the area.

What an emphatic finish that was. West Ham couldn’t get out from a long throw-in and that eventually led to the goal. McAtee’s long angled ball from the right was cleverly headed into a dangerous area by Trusty, 25 yards from goal. Osula’s header was clawed away by Areola, a pretty good save to hs right, but Brereton Diaz reacted superbly to lift the loose ball over Ward-Prowse and ram it into the net.

It probably helped, has the cliche goes, that he had no time to think. Instinct kicked in and he took the goal beautifully. It’s Brereton Diaz’s first of a miserable season, for club or country. A hitherto miserable season, I should say, because that could spark something.

GOAL! Sheff Utd 1-1 West Ham (Brereton Diaz 44)

42 min Ward-Prowse is booked for a foul on Bogle. He got the ball but the referee decided he’d pulled Bogle back first.

41 min A wicked, dipping corner from Ward-Prowse is screwed wide on the half-volley by Bowen. It wasn’t the easiest chance, especially in such a crowded area, but it was a chance nonetheless.

40 min Bowen turns his man majestically in the area and slides the ball across the six-yard box. It’s half cleared to Ings, whose fierce shot is crucially blocked, I think by Bogle. Whoever it was may have saved a goal

40 min Hamer is booked for pulling back Fornals.

38 min Osula turns a defender cleverly on the right side of the area and smashes the ball right across the face of the goal. Just one problem: there were no Sheffield United players anywhere near him.

36 min McAtee goes down in the area, but the referee isn’t interested.

34 min Here’s Joe Pearson on the important business of the day: the phrase bottom-feeders. “Perhaps you’d prefer the scientific term ‘benthivore’ instead?” he writes. “Yes, I can google.”

Yes sir, I can google, surely.

33 min An imaginative through pass from Hamer just evades Brereton Diaz, who made an excellent run infield from the left. Sheffield United have played some good stuff today; they often do, and then they concede the first goal and it’s deja vu all over again.

West Ham take the lead against the run of play. Ings curled a pass out to Coufal, who slid it back to Ings in the area. He wriggled away from Hamer to strike a shot that hit a defender and looped towards Cornet on the left.

Corner reacted smartly to twist his body and crack a volley that beat Foderingham for pace at the near post. That’s a fine finish, his first goal for West Ham.

GOAL! Sheff Utd 0-1 West Ham (Cornet 28)

27 min: Chance for Trusty! Hamer plays a nice pass to McAtee, lurking with intent between the lines. He drives forward and wins another corner for Sheffield United. Hamer’s outswinger is met by Trusty, unmarked 10 yards out, but he heads straight into Areola’s loving arms. That was a pretty good chance.

23 min This is a good spell for Sheffield United. Brooks nutmegs Coufal and angles the ball back to Brereton Diaz on the edge of the area. He curls a relatively tame shot into the arms of Areola.

21 min Areola makes a brilliant save from Osula, though the flag went up immediately. Brereton Diaz was the one offside as he ran through on goal. He squared the ball to Osula, whose shot was superbly saved.

Actually it wasn’t a great ball from Brereton Diaz, slightly behind Osula. He looks nervous in front of goal, no surprise given his scorelessness this season.

18 min: Chance for Brooks! Now it’s Sheffield United’s turn to lament a missed opportunity. Robinson’s long throw was only half cleared to the edge of the area, from where Brooks located Row Z.

16 min It’s in an almost identical position to Ivan Toney’s goal yesterday. This time Hamer doesn’t move the ball and crashes his free-kick into the wall.

15 min Hamer spins a nice pass round the corner to Osula, who is fouled just outside the area by Zouma. This looks perfect for the left foot of James McAtee…

14 min: Chance for Bowen! Vinicius Souza is caught on the ball by Ings, who nicks it past Ahmedhodzic and feeds Bowen on the edge of the area. He moves around the defence, away from goal, and drags a left-foot shot wide of the far post. The angle wasn’t the easiest, but Bowen is normally really precise when he shoots from that sort of position.

13 min Ward-Prowse’s free-kick from the left is headed towards goal by Zouma, 15 yards out, and Foderingham makes a comfortable save.

12 min: Good save by Foderingham! A long throw is nodded on by Soucek towards Ings, on the move as always. He hooks a first-time shot that is clawed away by the outrushing Foderingham. That’s a really good bit of anticipation.

11 min Vinicius Souza pelts a decent effort from 25 yards. Areola holds on as he falls to his right.

10 min Okay, these are the formations. I think.

Sheff Utd (4-1-4-1) Foderingham; Bogle, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Trusty; Vinicius Souza; McAtee, Hamer, Brooks, Brereton Diaz; Osula.

West Ham (4-2-3-1) Areola; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Cornet, Ings, Fornals; Bowen.

9 min Hamer shoots wide from distance.

8 min Osula overhits a cross from the right. I’m trying to work out Sheffield United’s shape – it looks like Brereton Diaz has started on the left wing with Osula up front.

6 min Cornet cuts inside from the right and feeds the overlapping Coufal in the area. His cross is blocked at the near post.

4 min West Ham are playing with Ings slightly behind Bowen rather than the other way round. The reason for this tactical observation is that bugger all is happening on the field.

3 min “Good morning from Pittsburgh!” writes Eric Peterson. “I think there’s a shade of utter lunacy among that certain faction of West Ham supporters responsible for the vitriol directed at David Moyes given not only their recent achievements (European silverware, for crying out loud) but also their current league status.

“If Sheffield United come out with the same kind of relentlessly physical approach that fed Bristol City’s upset of the Hammers in the FA Cup, this could be a very awkward day for West Ham. Losing to the Premier League bottom-feeders right after becoming the only Premier League team to be ousted from the FA Cup third round by lower-level opposition would pour some serious gasoline on the fire.”

Whoever invented the phrase “bottom-feeder” should be hunted down and warned about the law of unintended consequences. I don’t care whether they’ve been dead for over a century.

2 min Both teams have started with a back four, as exclusively predicted nowhere.

1 min Peep peep! West ham, in their blue change strip, kick off from left to right as we watch.

Here come the players. With West Ham missing so many key men, this feels like a big chance for Sheffield United to launch their great escape. They’ve left it even later than the boys of 1990-91, but they still have the one thing all sentient beings need: hope.

‘Because someone had to’ is the frankly ominous subject of Matt Dony’s email.

The reflex is to write Moyes off as a notorious fan of straightforward football, but he’s hungry like the wolf for a bit of flair. The Jhon Duran deal may have come undone, but save a prayer for the potential Broja transfer. I can see him fitting in with the wild boys at West Ham.

No no no torius please no.

This match has been inconsiderately scheduled in the middle of the transfer window, but West Ham are doing their best to compete on both fronts.

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