Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Sheffield United (AET)
Wednesday, 1st November 2000
Football League Cup – Round 3
Venue: Hillsborough Stadium
Attendance: 32,283
Referee: Steve Lodge (Barnsley)
| SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY | 2 (1) |
| Efan Ekoku 10, 112 | |
| SHEFFIELD UNITED | 1 (1) |
| Michael Brown |
| SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY | -V- | SHEFFIELD UNITED | ||
| Kevin Pressman | 1 | Simon Tracey | ||
| Ian Haslam | 2 | Gus Uhlenbeek | ||
| Des Walker | 3 | Shaun Murphy | ||
| Alan Quinn | 4 | Keith Curle | ||
| Gerald Sibon | B | 5 | Wayne Quinn | |
| Aaron Lescott | 6 | Nick Montgomery | ||
| Matt Hamshaw | 7 | Paul Devlin | ||
| Ritchie Humphreys | 8 | Michael Brown | ||
| Ashley Westwood | 9 | Bruno Ribeiro | ||
| Efan Ekoku | 10 | Marcus Bent | ||
| Owen Morrison | 11 | David Kelly | B | |
| Substitutes | |
| 45mins | Derek Geary for Humphreys |
| 45mins | Tony Crane for Westwood |
| 88mins | Curtis Woodhouse for Ribeiro |
| 105mins | Michele Di Piedi for Hamshaw |
| 113mins | Andy Smith for Bent |
| 116mins | Georges Santos for Montgomery |
| Unused | ||||
| Chris Stringer | – | Frank Talia | ||
| Adam Muller | – | Laurent D’Jaffo | ||
| Managers | ||||
| Paul Jewell | – | Neil Warnock | ||
Notes
No notes
Match Report
Blades Pay the Price for Missed Chances in Worthington Cup Derby Defeat
Sheffield United were left to rue a string of missed opportunities as they fell 2–1 to bitter rivals Sheffield Wednesday in an eventful Worthington Cup clash at Hillsborough on Wednesday night. Despite dominating for large spells and equalising after an early setback, the Blades missed a golden chance in the dying seconds of normal time before succumbing to a late extra-time winner.
United, unchanged from their previous outing, began by attacking the Kop end and were frustrated early on when Uhlenbeek was denied a seemingly clear free-kick. Moments later, Ribeiro was controversially booked for handball, quickly followed into the book by Haslam for a trip on Montgomery.
The visitors almost broke the deadlock amid chaos in the Wednesday box after a dangerous Devlin cross, but Kelly was crowded out. Instead, it was the Owls who struck first. In the 9th minute, Uhlenbeek conceded an unnecessary free-kick, and Morrison’s delivery was flicked goalward by EKOKU’s faint header, leaving Tracey helpless.
Undeterred, United continued to press. Kelly volleyed just over from a tight angle, and Bent raced through on goal only to see his clever chip beaten away by the towering Pressman. At the other end, Tracey was called into action to stop a decent strike from Alan Quinn, but United were largely in control, seeing more of the ball and creating better chances.
Devlin surged forward on a dazzling 40-yard run and fired just wide, and United’s pressure finally told in the 33rd minute. When Wednesday failed to deal with Montgomery’s low cross, BROWN pounced and swept the ball past Pressman from 15 yards.
United pressed for a second before the break. Pressman had to arch backward to tip over Murphy’s looping header, and Bent went close with a powerful drive that narrowly missed the far corner. A rare Wednesday foray nearly punished the Blades when Ekoku appeared to push his marker in the box, and Morrison’s resulting shot was superbly tipped over by Tracey.
The Owls then went close again, as Westwood found space to meet another Morrison free-kick, only for Tracey to deny him.
Wednesday started the second half more brightly, nearly capitalising when Curle lost possession, although Ekoku couldn’t direct his diving header. United looked subdued during this spell, and while the hosts’ confidence grew, their end product remained poor—Sibon’s wild attempt from a 30-yard free-kick typified their wastefulness.
United eventually reasserted control and began carving out chances once more. Pressman cleared from Kelly, Devlin chipped just wide, and Brown created space beautifully only to drag his shot inches off target. As the game ticked into stoppage time, United had the perfect opportunity to win it.
Kelly was brought down just outside the box, and Quinn’s resulting free-kick was parried by Pressman. From the rebound, Woodhouse, grounded in the area, managed to prod the ball to the unmarked Bent, who had time and space from eight yards—but his shot struck the crossbar. Agony for United.
Extra-time offered fewer chances as fatigue set in, but Wednesday found the decisive moment with nine minutes remaining. Yet another Morrison cross caused problems in the Blades’ box, and EKOKU arrived at the back post to nod the ball down and over the line—just. Despite a late onslaught from United, they couldn’t find a leveller to force penalties.
A frustrating night ended in heartbreak, with fans and manager Neil Warnock alike left wondering how the Blades had come away empty-handed.
UP THE BLADES 
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