West Ham recorded their fourth successive game without a win on Saturday as Sheffield United maintained their unbeaten form away from home in a 1-1 draw at the Olympic Stadium.
Scottish winger Robert Snodgrass scored his first of the season to put the Hammers ahead in the 44th minute after a smart through ball from Andriy Yarmolenko.
Substitute Lys Mousset then drew level for the Blades in the 69th minute after Enda Stevens’ header fell to him on the left of the penalty box, scoring with a neat finish on the turn into the bottom corner.
Slow Start
The first half was a cagey affair as the rain bucketed down over East London, with both sides struggling to get to grips with the slippery surface.
The first real chance of the game came for the hosts in the 27th minute, when Felipe Anderson’s long-range effort flew just a few yards over the bar.
The visitors grew into the game over the next 15 minutes with a Sheffield corner seeing Jack O’Connell’s header at the back post find an unmarked David McGoldrick who forced a spectacular save from Roberto from six yards out to keep the score level.
West Ham continued to struggle defending set-pieces, twice being saved by wasteful efforts from McGoldrick and Callum Robinson whose headers both failed to find the net from point blank range.
Incisive Break
However, just on the stroke of half time Yarmolenko and Snodgrass caught the Blades’ sleeping, linking up with a couple of smart passes before the Scottish international slid the ball past Dean Henderson to open the scoring going into the second half.
The first half finished West Ham 1-0 Sheffield United.
Frantic Football
A hectic couple of minutes followed the start of the second half as Henderson forced away an attempt from Anderson and a resulting counter attack saw George Baldock fire narrowly wide.
The Hammers’ defence struggled with Sheffield’s attacking intensity in the opening minutes of the half, failing to counter on their one goal advantage.
The Blades broke down the left in the 54th minute and Stevens’ cross found Baldock at the back post whose low-driven effort slipped through the fingers of Roberto and forced a goal-line clearance from Aaron Cresswell.
The Hammers started attacking more aggressively as they looked to get back into the game but squandered two chances as Yarmolenko found himself in a one-on-one with Henderson, firing his shot directly at the English shotstopper before skipper Mark Noble’s ambitious first-time chip towards goal sailed well wide.
Even The Odds
Blades boss Chris Wilder took the number of Sheffield strikers on the pitch up to three when Mousset took the place of midfielder Oliver Norwood in the 64th minute.
His decision paid off almost immediately when in the 69th minute Stevens nodded the ball down to the feet of Mousset, who swivelled and connected with just enough power to roll the ball into the net and draw level.
Hunting For A Winner
West Ham didn’t seem content with the point however and threw men forward in search of a winner. Yarmolenko picked out Cresswell’s run in behind the Sheffield defence but Henderson stood tall to block yet another one-on-one.
Declan Rice’s audacious effort from 25 yards out was punched away in the 75th minute and an unusually quiet Sebastien Haller saw his effort receive the same treatment from 20 yards out two minutes later.
Manuel Pellegrini showed no let-up in his quest for a decider, bringing on Spanish attacker Pablo Fornals in place of Noble.
Fornals made a quick impact and his ball into the box in the 80th minute found Yarmolenko who couldn’t find the net before Snodgrass slid in at the back post and forced the ball towards goal only to see his shot ricochet off the post.
Seeing It Out
The Blades were clearly happy with the point and killed the tempo of the game at any given opportunity.
Yarmolenko almost nicked it for the Hammers in the dying seconds of the game after his 22-yard effort in the 92nd minute grazed the post and fell wide before the referee blew for full time and the spoils were shared.
The point sees West Ham and Sheffield move up one place each to 10th and 8th respectively. West Ham have now failed to win in four consecutive games whilst Sheffield stretch their unbeaten run away from home to 14 games, a record dating back to January.
What’s Next?
West Ham return to the Olympic Stadium next Saturday against a struggling Newcastle United.
Sheffield United head back home to Bramall Lane, hosting Burnley.
