Sheffield United player grades as defeat at Newcastle confirmed relegation

Sheffield United suffered another heavy defeat by the hands of Newcastle United as a 5-1 loss confirmed the Blades have been relegated from the Premier League.

Chris Wilder’s men came out of the traps all guns blazing as they piled up chances in between Anel Ahmedhodzic’s opener. However a second half collapse saw the Magpies score four goals in the space of 18 minutes.

Player grades

Wes Foderingham: 6

Made some decent saves especially just before the break to deny Lewis Hall from the edge of the box. However he could do little with all of the five goals, although goals prevented stats marked Foderingham down for -1.3.

Jayden Bogle: 5 

Far from his best game. He had to deal with the electric pace of Anthony Gordon while still feeling the effects of his tight calf suffered against Manchester United in midweek.

Mason Holgate: 2

Shocking second half performance which saw him gift a free header to Bruno Guimaraes at the far post, and not long after he dallied on the ball to present a simple chance for Gordon but luckily it was thwarted. Then a couple of minutes later he made a clumsy challenge on Gordon inside the box and the referee gave a penalty.

Anel Ahmedhodzic: 6

Was very brave on the ball at times, as you have to be if you want to win away at a place like Newcastle. Latched onto a great delivery from Gustavo Hamer to open the scoring.

Defensively he was having a decent game up against an elite striker in Alexander Isak, but a poor seven minute spell from his teammate started the collapse of the back line.

Auston Trusty: 5

Similar to Ahmedhodzic, made some good decisions on the ball in the first half, and even produced a wonderful block to deny Jacob Murphy in the first half. However, he reverted to type in the second half as the Blades leaked goal after goal.

Ben Osborn: 3

He was having a steady game in the first half contributing to United’s front foot football as gaps seemed to open up in the Newcastle defence all at once. However, he did have a difficult time of it in the second half. And he will want to forget that own goal very quickly.

Oli Arblaster: 7

Looked the best player on the pitch for large parts of the first half as he kept making the Blades tick and progressing the ball. Ended the game with a phenomenal five of nine successful long passes, and five of seven dribbles.

Andre Brooks: 5

Started the game really well, giving the Blades plenty of athleticism in the middle of the park but he took a big whack around halfway into the first half and it clearly hindered his movement for a while. Was eventually substituted in the second half.

Gustavo Hamer: 7

As this dismal campaign comes to an end I have to say I cannot wait to see what Hamer and Arblaster can do together in the Championship. Hamer provided that attacking spark, getting an assist for Ahmedhodzic’s opener and setting up Brereton-Diaz and Archer for chances to run at the Newcastle back line.

Ben Brereton-Diaz: 6

Picked him out in my preview to be the player that could cause Newcastle all sorts of problems, and he did that. Should definitely have done better with one or two of his chances but before he came in we looked nowhere near as threatening as we do with him.

Cameron Archer: 5

His electric pace and movement meant that the Newcastle defence could not deal with him in the first half and he could’ve very easily had a brace before half time. Completely fizzled out in the second half as he watched the defence collapse.