Sheffield United climb to third in Championship with win at struggling Hull

Posted Saturday, September 14, 2024 by PA

Tim Walter is still awaiting his first victory as Hull boss after goals from Gustavo Hamer and Sam McCallum earned Sheffield United a deserved 2-0 win at the MKM Stadium.

Hull’s slack defending on their own set-pieces proved costly as the clinical Blades punished the home side in each half on the counter-attack following corners.

Hamer finished off a lightning three-on-one break in the first half to put the visitors ahead at the interval before substitute McCallum wrapped up the points in an almost carbon copy counter in the 67th minute to seal victory which moved United up to third in the Sky Bet Championship table.

The German promised to bring “heart-attack football” after his appointment in the summer – which owner Acun Ilicali craved – but the Tigers have scored just twice, with only one in open play.

The home side were booed off the pitch at the final whistle as they sit above the relegation zone with two points from five games.

Jesrun Rak-Sakyi dragged an early effort wide for the away side before Hull beat the Blades press in midfield with brave possession.

Adbus Omur led the attack by driving to the edge of the penalty area before laying off to Abu Kamara, whose low cross was diverted behind for a corner.

It was from this set-piece where Chris Wilder’s men showed their clinical edge in the 15th minute.

The Tigers worked a short routine which went all the way back to debutant Mohamed Belloumi, who was one of the two men in defence on the halfway line.

The Algerian was pickpocketed by Callum O’Hare to set up a three-on-one counter-attack before picking out Hamer to his right, who calmly finished into the far corner past goalkeeper Ivor Pandur.

Kieffer Moore spurned a golden chance to double United’s lead moments later when he raced clear on to O’Hare long ball but failed to get a shot away and the attack petered out.

Hull’s best chance of the first half came in the 28th minute when Omur’s dipping free-kick from 30 yards forced Michael Cooper to tip over the crossbar.

At the other end, Moore was denied a certain goal by a last-ditch Alfie Jones tackle as the away side deservedly led at the interval.

United came out looking to extend their advantage and a Hamer corner caused chaos as Vinicius Souza to fired low at goal, which Pandur did well parry wide.

Belloumi boosted home fans’ spirits just after the hour mark when his cross-shot forced Cooper into a desperate save over the bar.

It was their best spell of the game when they forced another corner, but once again they were hit by a devastating counter which all but secured the three points for the visitors with 23 minutes remaining.

In similar fashion to their opener, the Blades broke in numbers which led to Andre Brooks teeing up McCallum to fire into the far corner from 15 yards.

Hull were inches from halving the deficit six minutes later when a teasing cross from Kasey Palmer found Marvin Mehlem in the penalty area but his thunderous header rattled off the crossbar and bounced clear.

A rash challenge from Alfie Gilchrist heated the temperature in the final 10 minutes, however, United held on for their third league triumph of the season.