/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47032794/GettyImages-485204286.0.jpg)
Good thing our cup campaign is going better than our league one. Anyway, goals from Ross McCormack and Moussa Dembele led us to a 3-0 win against Sheffield United last night.
The second half was definitely better than the first, as Sheffield had the first chance of the game, when Lasse Vigen Christensen lost possesssion of the ball. Martyn Woolford cut in, taking the ball, and fired onto gola, however Andrew Lonergan was there to tip the ball over for a corner, which was subsequently headed over by Harrison McGahey. We replied with an effort from Alexander Kacaniklic just a few moments later, after some ball control meant he skipped past 3 visiting players, but his low shot was too wide of the post. We almost took the lead in the 12th minute, when Christensen weaved his way into the box before feeding McCormack, whose blocked shot then found its way to Ryan Tunniclife, but his hard shot hit the bar and flew away.
Marc McNulty had a fair chance off a bad pass from Tim Ream, but Lonergan was there to save. This happened at the other end too, with George Long diving down to catch a low shot from Christensen. Another good chance for us came 25 minutes in, this time Kay Voser and Tunniclife applying pressure, with Voser playing in Dembele, but his shot was oh so close- missing by just a yard. The game went quiet until the end of the first half, when a cross from Ben Pringle was headed just wide by Dembele, while a strike from Woolford deflected off target at our goal.
The game took quite a great turn for us in the second card, with United man James Wallace being shown a yellow card for clipping Ryan Tunniclife, who was on a great run to goal. Some good possession on the end of the box led to McCormack getting the ball, whose curled effort landed in the arms of Long. We were given a penalty on the hour mark when Tunniclife header was supposed to meet McCormack, however the Scotsman was being held back by Kieran Wallace as he went to strike. The penalty was a goal, with the striker simply planting the ball in the bottom left corner. 1-0. Kacaniklic was taken off shortly after, being replaced with Tom Cairney, while the visitors bought Jose Baxter and Connor Dimaio on to replace Diego De Girolamo and James Wallace. Two efforts followed in the 70th minute, when a through ball from Cairney was supposed to meet Dembele but was blocked. Tunniclife then regained possession, but shot high and wide with his left foot. Dimaio rocketed over the bar while the visiting fans watched their team make an attack towards goal.
McCormack made it 2-0 in classic style, Ben Pringle feeding him with a pass, before accurately striking in on the far corner of the net. Dembele was still looking for a goal as he found a header from a cross by Pringle, which - somehow - was tipped over by Long. Ream was taken off, recieving a standing ovation from the home fans, replaced with Nikolay Bodurov. United attacked on goal again in the 83rd minute, but a McNulty header was easily caught by Lonergan. The visiting side used up all their changes as Che Adams came on to replace Craig Alcock. Baxter was shown a red for a harsh challenge on Cairney. Bodurov's free kick landed at McCormack, whose downwards header wasn't speedy enough, and was easily caught by Long. The Scotsman didn't stop there, drilling a strike towards goal, but unfortunately went just wide. United recieved their second red card of the night, and the first straight red, when Kieran Wallace cut Dembele Down as he was making a run on goal. McCormack rocketed the free kick on target, but unfortunately it was caught with a great diving save from Long. Dembele finally got his goal in the last minute of added time, tapping comfortable past the United goalie to wrap it up, 3-0.