Bournemouth's late fightback denies Sheff Utd rare win

Sheffield United failed to hold off a Bournemouth comeback for a rare victory as the Cherries came from 2-0 down to earn a hard-fought point.

The Blades seemed likely to secure only their fourth win of the season as they ended a three-match scoreless streak thanks to goals from Gustavo Hamer and Jack Robinson but Andoni Iraola’s men were clinical from their corners, with Dango Ouattara scoring on 74 minutes and Enes Unal equalising in stoppage time.

Despite their disappointment at being unable to hang on for the win, the point was still enough for Sheff Utd to move away from the bottom for the first time since 22 December.

Bournemouth had one change as Chris Mepham replaced the injured Marcos Senesi. 

Chris Wilder made four changes from the 6-0 defeat at home to Arsenal, Oliver Arblaster, George Baldock, Ben Osborn, and Ben Brereton Diaz all coming in.

In the 13th minute a Cherries short free-kick into the area brought a penalty as Dominic Solanke was fouled by Tom Davies.

But the Bournemouth No 9 failed to score his 15th goal of the season as he lost his footing just as he was about to kick the ball which was skewed high into the stands.

Bournemouth continued to apply the pressure but it was Sheff Utd who opened the scoring thanks to Hamer, who smashed the ball in from a rebound of Neto’s save from Jayden Bogle to score their first goal in four matches.

Andoni Iraola’s men continued to dominate but could not level the score before half-time despite Ryan Christie’s lovely ball finding Antoine Semenyo, whose header was saved by Ivo Grbic.

Against the run of play the Blades doubled their lead in the 64th minute thanks to a scrappy corner. Neto punched the corner against a defender and the loose ball fell to Robinson, whose shot crossed the line before the Bournemouth 'keeper could claw the ball away.

Two minutes later, Solanke thought he had got one back for Bournemouth but VAR overturned his goal because he had handled the ball before poking it in.

Bournemouth’s opening goal came from a corner in the 74th minute as an unmarked Ouattara leapt highest to meet Christie’s inswinging cross with a powerful header.

Sheff Utd continued to soak up the pressure as they sat deep, allowing the Cherries to find success from another corner in the first minute of stoppage time.

Unal saw his shot across goal cleared off the line, but when the ball went back in the January signing volleyed into the bottom corner for his first league goal for the club.

Luis Sinisterra came close to a winner as he drove into the area but he narrowly missed the post with a low shot.

The point lifts Sheff Utd into 19th, with 14 points, one above Burnley.  Bournemouth remain in 13th, with 32 points, 11 clear of the bottom three.

Bournemouth report | Sheff Utd report

Bournemouth avoided defeat in a Premier League game in which they trailed by 2+ goals for the first time since September 2022 (3-2 win v Nottingham Forest), ending a run of 20 straight defeats when going two or more goals down.

This was just the second time Sheffield United have failed to win a Premier League match in which they led by 2+ goals (W22 D2), following a 3-3 draw with Manchester United in November 2019.

Bournemouth had 32 shots in this match, their most ever in a single Premier League game. Their 12 shots on target today was their joint-most in a game in the top-flight (also 12 v Watford in January 2019).

Sheffield United had nine shots on target in this match, their most on record in a single Premier League game (since 2006-07).