West Bromwich Albion 2 - Sheffield United 0

Date:	Friday 12th December 2025
Competition:	Sky Bet Championship
WBA: 6.9	(4-2-3-1) Wildsmith 6.7, Campbell 6.5, Phillips 6.3, Bielik 6.5, Styles 6.9, Molumby 6.0, Diakité 5.6, Johnston 7.3 (Iling-Junior, 91 4.9), Price 4.7 (Taylor, 85 5.0), Grant 7.5, Heggebø 8.1 (Dike, 93 5.2) Unused subs: Griffiths, Mepham, Maja, Gilchrist, Bostock, Wallis Manager: Ryan Mason 6.0
Sheff U: 4.5	(4-4-2) Cooper, Sericki, McGuinness, Tanganga, Burrows, Brooks (Chong, 60), Souamaré (Arblaster, 60), Riedewald (O'Hare, 70), Hamer, Bamford (Ings, 84), Campbell (Cannon, 70) Unused subs: Davies, McCallum, Bindon, Matos
Scorers:	Heggebø (50), Grant (61)
Attendance:	22,217 Home Fans 6.7 Away Fans 5.1

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Ratings submitted so far: 23

Brendan Clegg:

I don’t know if many other fans felt the same but I had none of the nerves/anticipation/looking forward to the game ahead it - it felt like a bit of a chore. Despite the general rubbish Friday night traffic and arriving later than normal there were no issues parking where I normally do… so the blue seats were not a surprise after a quiet walk up to the ground.

The lineup was fairly as expected with Mowatt out… Bielik and Phillips the cb pairing, Campbell at right back. I find having 2 keepers in the bench utterly bizarre - basically saying there is no other u21 outfield player good enough to be in the squad? Not sure that is true or brilliant motivation to be honest.

The less said about the first half the better… it was dire. Rather than embracing the opportunity to not pass everything through Mowatt, we looked lost and a bit clueless. When the opportunity was there to stride forward into the grass ahead, we went sideways and backwards.

Playing ourselves into trouble a few times, we got away with a couple of nearly farcical situations before needing Wildsmith to make a decent save - and it was decent, but not a worldie.

As the turgid half wore on we did get a bit better from a low standard, largely via Grant continuing his basic but effective hard working and athletic wing play going on the outside and swinging his left foot at it - all those Klarna style payments for him and we’ve finally evolved him from a one-trick pony (cut inside and clobber it) to a two-trick one… doubling his effectiveness.

But we ended the half without a shot on target at home against a team below us in the worst championship I can recall.

After the break we showed a bit more industry and urgency before taking the lead a bit out of nowhere. Some good play released Campbell down the right and his first touch was so heavy that his cross was almost like a 50/50 on the run with their defender but it went hard and low and Heggebø darted to the front post to prod home.

Just put the ball in the box early every time you can Albion and stop going backwards or slowing things down… if you do it enough he’ll get on the end of things.

The goal did give us a lift and we played more confidently. Sheffield Utd were as brittle as everyone else we’ve played this season in this league (and ourselves) and we were rewarded for continuing to be positive and pressing with a second goal - great work from Heggebø and a stunning finish from Grant (doing his best original one-trick) slamming in off the bar.

It could’ve been more. Price made some poor decisions and our tendency to hoof it / clear wildly under no pressure did a few times prevent us breaking out.

I always want the Albion to win. A welcome clean sheet. Bielik and Phillips looked pretty solid once they settled. The kind of win against the poor sides in this league that should be routine for this squad if they are organised and disciplined - home or away. Doesn’t change anything for me with the head coach but we have a huge opportunity to back this win up now next week - let’s see.

Wildsmith - 7 good save kept us in it. Otherwise sound enough.
Campbell - 7 can’t fault his effort or energy. Sometimes still looks far off being a footballer!
Phillips - 6 Settled down and then enjoyed himself
Bielik - 7 Same, reliable
Styles - 7 Always tries to get it down and play. Usual energy.
Molumby - 6 ticked us over and kept it calm and sensible.
Diakite - 6 had a ropey spell where his passing was off and he took too long but came through it and did a job for us.
MJ - 6 a threat, creates space, I’d still try him in the 10 and get him on the ball as much as we can.
Price - 4 loads of running but miles off it in quality and decision making.
Grant - 7 continuing to play at his maximum level, to his credit. Can’t fault the effort.
Heggebø - 8 Scored one, made another. If we got forward at a faster tempo he might get even more, but really proving himself.

I thought the subs all did okay… and Styles looked useful in the middle again when switched.