Wolves 1 (Sarabia 30) Sheffield United 0
Pablo Sarabia’s goal was the difference as Wolves claimed all three points against Sheffield United at Molineux.
The Spaniard headed home from Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross after 30 minutes to secure back-to-back wins and move Gary O’Neil’s men up three places to eighth in the Premier League table.
Wolves controlled the opening stages at Molineux and were on the front foot, dominating possession and tenacious to win the ball back.
The Old Gold threatened their opponents without quite creating a clear-cut chance in front of goal. However, from a recycled corner, Sarabia whipped in a teasing cross which was met by the head of Joao Gomes, but the midfielder could only nod over the top.
Against the run of play, Rhian Brewster had two bites of the cherry at the back post as his first effort was blocked by the midriff of Craig Dawson, before Jose Sa did well to bat away the follow-up attempt.
Minutes later, the same man was freed down the Blades right following a flick on as Brewster closed in on the penalty area. Toti was making strides to recover and did superbly to make up the ground and just do enough as the attacker skewed his effort wide of Sa’s left-hand post.
Despite the visitors looking threatening on the break after a dominant Wolves start, it was O’Neil’s men who broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark. The home side were patient in their play as Pedro Neto picked it up on halfway before it was collected by Ait-Nouri who shifted the ball onto his right boot and crossed into an area where Sarabia rose highest to expertly help the ball on and head into the top corner.
Wolves had a spring in their step and Neto began to look menacing and with space down the left, the Portuguese almost took full advantage, cutting inside and firing an attempt that was always rising just over the bar.
Half-time | Wolves 1-0 Sheffield United
Sheffield United kept a high line in the early exchanges of the second period and that forced the home side to play in their own half and after winning the ball back, James McAtee drilled his shot just wide of the post.
And a breakaway on the left almost conjured up an equaliser for the Blades as McAtee picked out Brewster at the back post who managed to connect with an effort towards goal, but there wasn’t enough to trouble Sa who made a relatively comfortable low save.
With the visitors searching for the leveller, Wolves were eyeing a second and some neat combination between Gomes and Sarabia so nearly produced it. The latter received the ball off the Brazilian midfielder before unleashing a drive from distance that had plenty of venom, but just lacked the accuracy as the ball arrowed wide.
While Wolves moved to a back four following Tommy Doyle’s introduction, Chris Wilder rolled the dice and brought on Ben Osborn before making a triple change with eight minutes to play with the game still in the balance.
With the scoreline at one, there was hope for the Blades as the clock ticked down to 90. Jack Robinson’s long throw caused chaos in the Wolves penalty area as the ball was flicked on towards the back post but, fortunately, Auston Trusty was unable to make a telling connection.
The home side were made to navigate through five minutes of additional time and they did so successfully, as Wolves moved onto 38 points and up to eighth.
Full-time | Wolves 1-0 Sheffield United
Wolves | Sa, Semedo, Kilman, Dawson, Toti, Ait-Nouri (Doyle 77), Gomes, Lemina, Sarabia (Doherty 90), Neto, Hwang (Bellegarde 85).
Unused subs | Bentley, S. Bueno, Traore, H. Bueno, Chirewa, Fraser.
Sheffield United | Grbic, Trusty, Brewster (Osula 82), Hamer, Ahmedhodzic, Norwood (Davies 82), Robinson, Bogle, Souza (McBurnie 82), Larouci (Osborn 72), McAtee.
Unused subs | Foderingham, Arblaster, Curtis, Brooks, Sasnauskas.
