The absence of regular strikers Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn proved too big
a hurdle for Sunderland to equal a club record of 13 successive home wins.
The First Division champions, already without Niall Quinn through suspension
and injured England under-21 international Michael Bridges, suffered a late
pre-match blow when leading goal scorer Phillips withdrew for personal reasons.
The patched up pairing of Danny Dichio and Martin Smith rarely threatened to
unsettle a five-man Blades defence which held firm even when the tempo increased
in the later stages.
United in fact had the better chances with Curtis Woodhouse and George Donis
forcing Thomas Sorensen into two magnificent saves.
The normal free-scoring Sunderland side huffed and puffed in their attempts to
break down a stubborn defence and apart from Allan Johnston hitting the
woodwork, Alan Kelly never looked as though he would be beaten.
Olivier Tebily came to his goalkeeper's rescue with a timely interception to
deny Dichio and Paul Butler slipped when he had the goal at his mercy.
Sunderland continued to look to Johnston for inspiration and the Scot was
unlucky with a curling shot which just cleared the far post with Kelly
stranded.
It took Sunderland over an hour to force their first corner, but in the 63rd
minute they had Michael Gray to thank for clearing off the line after Shaun
Derry's header had beaten Sorensen.
Johnston hit the post in the next minute and Dichio had a shot charged behind
as Sunderland finally got into their stride.
But United should have stolen all three points in the 76th minute.
Donis
looked to be offside but he was allowed to go on, only for Sorensen to block his
effort and when the ball broke loose, Robert Kozluk fired over an open target.
Teams:
Sunderland: Sorensen, Makin, Melville, Butler, Gray, Summerbee,
Ball (Holloway 75), Clark, Johnston, Dichio, Smith.
Subs Not Used: Craddock, McCann.
Booked: Ball.
Sheff Utd: Kelly, Derry, Jacobsen (Quinn 45), Woodhouse,
Sandford, Tebily, Donis, Ford (Dellas 22),
Morris (Katchouro 82), Devlin, Kozluk.
Att: 41,179
Ref: A Bates (Stoke).
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