Joy for Wilder as McAtee sinks Brentford to earn Sheffield United precious victory

Whisper it quietly, but the rewilding of Sheffield United may just have started at Bramall Lane this week. A refrain of “Chrissy Wilder, he’s one of our own” rang out from the Kop as the Premier League’s bottom team followed up Wednesday’s competitive performance against Liverpool with the first victory of their returning hero’s latest reign.

In a game low on quality but high on resilience, two fatigued teams were divided by James McAtee’s sumptuous first goal in the Premier League in first-half stoppage time, and the added belief that the strike and the manager’s return yielded.

In the era of three points for a win, the last team with eight points or fewer from their first 15 games to survive relegation from the top flight were – insert drum roll – Sheffield United in 1990/91, with one Chris Wilder in their playing ranks.

Now United are up and running with Wilder, who led them from League One to the top half of the Premier League in his first spell as manager, back in the dugout.

Not that he spent too much time sitting here. He headed every ball and screamed for the final whistle as this match ran beyond its four allocated minutes of added time. In the closing stages, Brentford were convinced they should have been awarded a penalty when the ball struck Anel Ahmedhodzic on the arm. When VAR deemed it was no penalty, Stuart Attwell, the referee, blew for full-time. The roof came off Bramall Lane and the familiar lyrics of “You fill up my senses” can barely have rung truer for this son of Sheffield.

The result leaves United two points shy of 17th place. Given they travel next to Chelsea and Aston Villa, no one is predicting safety is likely. But it no longer seems impossible.

Brentford may have dominated possession but in McAtee and Cameron Archer, the hosts had the best players on display. Deprived of their main sources of goals with Bryan Mbeumo out with an injured ankle and Ivan Toney still a month away from ending his ban, Brentford unsurprisingly lacked belief as well as 10 players.

For all Brentford’s absentees they were still the more dominant team in the first half, although they were highly fortunate not to lose another player when Frank Onyeka could have been sent off.

The midfielder was cautioned for his foul on Vinícius Souza but the replays available to VAR showed his challenge was late and high. It was surprising Robert Jones, monitoring the monitors back in Stockley Park, did not advise Attwell to take another look.

It was Onyeka who mustered the game’s first shot on target in the 36th minute but United who went ahead in first-half stoppage time. Moments after Cameron Archer had chugged clear from the halfway line only for Andre Brooks to stumble on receiving his pass inside the area, Brentford cleared as far as Gustavo Hamer. His pass went out to McAtee on the right of the penalty area. Turning inside, the Manchester City loanee lofted a brilliant shot into the far top corner.

It was arguably more than United deserved but, with both teams low on confidence, it was the timely shot in the arm Wilder’s new era needed.

The home team came back out for the second half with renewed vigour and soon could have been two goals ahead. Archer played a low cross through the eye of the proverbial needle for Anis Slimane, but the substitute’s instinctive effort was saved well by Mark Flekken.

The Brentford goalkeeper also repelled Archer’s shot when the former Aston Villa striker again found a way to wriggle clear. Slimane should have sealed the points moments later when, winning possession from a Brentford throw deep in their own half, he arrowed in on goal but, with the luxury of a 3 v 1 attack, opted to shoot and only found the side-netting.