Sheffield United 0-3 Hull City: Tigers claim shock victory at Bramall Lane to deny Blades Championship top spot

Hull City denied Sheffield United the chance to reclaim top spot in the Championship with a shock 3-0 victory at Bramall Lane.

The Blades began the day in second place, one point behind leaders Leeds while Hull were one point adrift in the relegation zone.

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Matt Crooks led the way for the Tigers, firing in the opener in his first start since joining the club (6).

Sheffield United struggled to gain control of the game after going behind but in the second half they thought they had found an equaliser through Tyrese Campbell. The 55th-minute substitute, who replaced Andre Brooks, finished off a breakaway just to see the linesman's flag instantly raised for offside.

In a dramatic turn of events, Hull countered up the other end to double their lead through Matty Jacob, who had also been introduced in the second half.

The Blades continued to push following the second set-back but it only allowed Hull to counter once more, this time, Harrison Burrows turned the ball into his own net (88) to seal the defeat on a forgettable night in his side's chase for promotion.

Three points for Hull sees them escape the relegation zone to move up to 18th in the Championship.

The result also serves as a boost for Sheffield United's promotion rivals ahead on Monday night's game between league leaders Leeds and third-placed Burnley, live on Sky Sports.

It was a fast start for Hull who showed but they showed some signs of vulnerability during the early exchanges with goalkeeper Ivor Pandur targeted from corners. It was from one of those corners, however, that Hull broke and silenced the Bramall Lane crowd.

Abou Kamara drove down the left and attempted to poke a cross through to Joseph, his effort was poorly cleared by Alfie Gilchrist, who set the ball up kindly for Crooks to wrap home from the edge of the area. Callum O'Hare will be ruing a number of spurned opportunities as his late runs into the Hull area very nearly gave the home side a lead, but he headed wide on two occasions.

Sheffield United's 19 crosses in the first half didn't dent Hull confidence as they emerged from the break still ready to take the game to the Blades.

Campbell's introduction nearly produced instant results when he ran onto a ball, helped along by fellow substitute Rhian Brewster to slot in from inside the area. However, the offside flag halted celebrations in a decision that Sky Sports commentator and former Sheffield Wednesday defender Andy Hinchcliffe disagreed with.

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"He seems to time the run perfectly," Hinchcliffe said on commentary.

"It looks as though McLoughlin was playing on Brewster, so doesn't look like there's an obvious offside there. Then the ball is flicked on [by Brewster] and Campbell is nowhere near being offside."

Hull used the opportunity to attack down the opposite end and Drameh's cross into the area yielded results when Jacob extended his leg to further cement Hull's lead.

The third came as the final whistle beckoned with tired legs beginning to creep in. Joao Pedro drove into the box, beating defenders before pulling back a cross into the mixer. Burrows failed to sort out his legs and could only play the ball into his own net. Jesurun Rak Saky's late curling, tame effort from distance summed up the Blades' night as they faltered to defeat.

The managers

Sheffield United's Chris Wilder:

"We lost a game of football, I'm not going to beat the players up. We've got 60 points. We're disappointed tonight. We've made some poor decisions from a goals point of view.

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On the disallowed goal:

"It was maybe a game-changer just after half-time. It felt tight at the time but they deserved their victory. They are a good group."

Hull's Ruben Selles:

"The win is very big, the performance is good. We came here trying to put [in] a good performance, trying to put things together. We have been competitive in all my time here, and the boys today showed how good they are. I hope this is the standard for us then we can move forward from this performance."

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