Robson’s sharp Blades put Blues to the sword

THE FA Cup has provided Bryan Robson with great moments in his illustrious career but possibly none as important as this victory.

The win, to claim another Premier League victim in this season’s competition, came courtesy of first-half goals from Luton Shelton and Jon Stead and while City returned to their dressing room to find €3,000 in cash had been stolen from players and staff, there was no question of them having been robbed on the field.

Players such as Gary Speed, Stephen Quinn and Derek Geary showed qualities in midfield which made Robson, himself, excel in his playing days and the United manager knows more displays of this ilk will decide his fate in the coming months.

Robson lifted the trophy three times as captain of Manchester United, and led Middlesbrough to the 1997 final as manager, so the competition holds fond memories for him at a time when he needed to cling to any available positives.

Having been summoned to the Brussels home of plc chairman Kevin McCabe in midweek, Robson knew his job security was tenuous as he struggles to inspire a side most people expected to be challenging for automatic promotion this season. Yet, despite Daniel Sturridge’s immediate impact as a second-half substitute for City with a sublime goal, United held on to lift the gloom surrounding the club.

“The first goal involved some good fortune but we haven’t been having much of that this season,” Robson said. “I thought we matched City in every department and showed people what we’re capable of.

“This will help our confidence because wins can breed that and help players believe in themselves.”

A promising start from the hosts should have seen them take the lead, but Stead’s downward header from Shelton’s left-foot cross in the ninth minute was smartly saved by Joe Hart, the City goalkeeper.

The cup has been kind to Robson over the years but the stroke of good fortune afforded him in the 11th minute was on a different scale. Lee Martin delivered an outswinging cross which City should have dealt with but the ball collided with one of the many balloons the visiting supporters dropped into Hart’s goalmouth, forcing Michael Ball to miskick his clearance.

Shelton reacted first to slide the loose ball into the bottom corner and put the home side ahead while Hart spent a moment doing what he should have done straight away — burst balloons to avoid embarrassment.

“There were lots of balloons on the pitch and my coaches on the bench asked the fourth official to ask the referee to stop the game so we could clear them off,” said Eriksson. “In the end, there were two balloons playing a one-two with Michael Ball and that’s why he miscued the kick.”

City pushed for an immediate response and Elano’s shot came back off the post in the 15th minute while, moments later, the Brazilian saw his curling free-kick saved by Paddy Kenny. Kenny’s save proved crucial considering United doubled their advantage just four minutes later.

Geary’s crossed caused mayhem in the City defence and when Shelton and Richard Dunne challenged for the loose ball, it squirted to Stead who buried his shot past Hart.

Eriksson withdrew Elano in favour of Sturridge at the start of the second half and the 18-year-old scored with his first touch on his first appearance of the season, taking the ball on his thigh before volleying an unstoppable drive past Kenny. It set up a tense finale but City were never able to truly threaten again.

SHEFFIELD UNITED (4-4-2): Kenny 7, Geary 7, Bromby 7, Morgan 7, Naysmith 7, Gillespie 7, Speed 7, Quinn 6, Martin 7, Shelton 8 (Tonge 76, 6), Stead 8 (Sharp 50, 6).

Subs Not Used: Hendrie, Kilgallon, Armstrong.

MANCHESTER CITY (4-5-1): Hart 6, Corluka 6, Onuoha 6, Dunne 6, Ball 5, Vassell 7, Hamann 6 (Ireland 62, 7), Elano 8 (Sturridge 46, 7), Fernandes 6, Petrov 6, Mpenza 6 (Geovanni 70, 7).

Subs Not Used: Schmeichel, Jihai.

REFEREE: Alan Wiley 5: Struggled to keep control at times, especially in a feisty first half when challenges went unpunished.

MATCH RATING: **** Thoroughly entertaining as the game see-sawed from end to end to revive memories of FA Cup thrillers from years gone by.

STRANGE STRIKES

Vanderlei (Cruzeiro 0 Atletico Mineiro 4, April 2007): After conceding the third goal, Cruzeiro goalkeeper Fabio was still looking for the ball and had his back to play as Atletico scored again. He failed to notice as Cruzeiro kicked off with a different ball, which was intercepted by Vanderlei and tapped into an undefended net.

Peter Enckelman (Birmingham 3 Aston Villa 0, September 2002): With his team trailing 1-0 to their arch-rivals from across the city, the last thing Villa needed was to gift their opponents a goal. But when Olof Mellberg took a throw-in from the left, Enckelman (pictured right) somehow managed to mis-control the ball and it rolled into the net.

Dion Dublin (Coventry 2 Newcastle 2, November 1997): There appeared little danger when Shay Given collected a cross from Gary McAllister. But the Irishman forgot about Dublin, who was lurking out of play behind the goalline, and when Given rolled the ball out, Dublin whipped the ball away and fired in.

Gary Sprake (Liverpool 2 Leeds 0, 1967): Well-known for all the wrong reasons, Sprake attempted to throw the ball out to team-mate Willie Bell but changed his mind, succeeding only in throwing into his own net.