Chris Wilder spoke of the hurt and disappointment of Sheffield United’s playoff final defeat to Sunderland at Wembley through the club’s official website.
The Blades lost out dramatically to a stoppage-time Tom Watson strike.
Heartbreaking Afternoon In The Capital
Wilder’s side travelled to London in a confident mood of a return to the top flight and started well, with Kieffer Moore forcing a magnificent save from Sunderland keeper Anthony Patterson before Tyrese Campbell dinked the Blades ahead.
Less than 10 minutes later, Harrison Burrows looked to have doubled the lead after volleying in from the edge of the box only for VAR to intervene. Both managers would have their say on the use of technology for this Wembley showpiece.
With 14 minutes left to go, Eliezer Mayenda smashed in the equaliser and the game looked set for extra time before a poor pass from Kieffer Moore fell to Watson.
The Academy of Light graduate heads to Brighton and Hove Albion next month but not before delightfully bending a low right-footed shot into the corner of Michael Cooper’s net and sending the travelling Black Cats into delirium.
With 95 minutes on the clock as the ball hit the net, Wilder and the Blades were condemned to another year of Championship football.
This Loss Hurts Everyone
Wilder was understandably despondent following the defeat and admitted it was going to take a long time to come to terms with.
“It is going to take a long time to get over. We’ve all been involved in the game for a long time, through the highs and the lows and coming off as a losing football team hurt for myself and the players, but most importantly the supporters.”
He was pleased with the start his side made and questioned why VAR was being used for a one-off occasion in the Championship this season.
“The start was what we were after, it is fabulous save (from Kieffer Moore’s header), we then get our noses in front and the contentious decision will be the one from Harrison’s shot, it was a subjective decision from the referee.”
“But like their manager said, why are we using VAR when we haven’t for 46 games plus two in the playoffs? For me, the goalkeeper isn’t saving it, it is past him.”
Ultimately, he was disappointed his side couldn’t see the game out, at least into extra time.
”We should have seen those added minutes out and gone to extra time, we should have seen that moment out, it will take a lot to recover from this.”
“Sunderland found their fabulous finishes when they needed to, we didn’t find ours and these things happen, but we were in the right place, in a controllable position, but our decision-making just wasn’t quite good enough.”
Writer’s View
Wilder appears pretty measured in his comments, particularly in the emotion of losing such a game. The use of VAR in this game when it isn’t used in the Championship is questionable but the goalkeeper looks to be impeded so the decision was correct.
