Ndiaye win stuns Fulham to extend Heckingbottom streak at Sheffield United | championship

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Sheffield United cemented new coach Paul Hickingbottom’s perfect record with a surprise victory over league leaders Fulham.

Eliman Ndiaye’s early goal only caused Fulham’s second home defeat of the season and meant the table swayed due to the usual spring promotion junk.

When the championship matches were released in the summer, this match was designated as Slavisa Jokanovic’s return to the club he joined in the Premier League. However, the Serbian failed to fit his style into the United squad built in the image of Chris Wilder. It came as no surprise when owners of Bramall Lane turned to Heckingbottom, who now has a record of three wins from three games, a month ago to reclaim the form that stifled many sides during Wilder’s reign.

With three defenders deep, and midfield duo Oliver Norwood and Conor Hourihane filling the spaces in front of them, there simply was no room for Fulham’s usual passes to find their targets. The other half of the tactic ensured the visitors advanced quickly whenever they had possession of the ball, as Ndiaye did to give the visitors a lead three minutes later.

The striker held possession of his own half and took advantage of the dip of Tossin Adarabiou and Tim Ream together. Ndiaye simply plowed and then fired an accurate shot into the bottom corner.

Aleksandar Mitrovic had to hold back more to try to affect play or turn the channels on as he did 19 minutes later when he tapped in on Kenny Tite’s pass but sent his shot in the run spins away. Harry Wilson passed three challenges on the edge of the area but this was the running angle he kicked outdoors when he tried to reverse his shot against his trajectory.

Despite introducing Tom Kearney in the first half as an extra playmaker, Fulham failed to create any more obvious chances after the restart. Mitrovic’s header veered, but that was close to the home side’s arrival until the last 15 minutes.

He left it up to the Serbs once again to create their own chance, but his low shot lacked the power to beat goalkeeper Wes Foderingham. Mitrovic got into the woodwork to save a point in stoppage time, but his shot hit the underside of the crossbar.

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