Sheffield United suffered a 1-0 defeat against Liverpool on Saturday, but there were plenty of positives to take away for the Blades.
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Chris Wilder’s side were impressive throughout the match, and held the European champions at 0-0 until the 70th minute. It was only an error from goalkeeper Dean Henderson which ultimately allowed the Reds to steal all three points.
But for that mistake, the Blades could quite easily have held out for a draw with their defensive unit looking solid. The man commanding their backline was John Egan, who himself was mightily impressive for the South Yorkshire side.
Egan won five aerial duels and three tackles, made five clearances and two interceptions at Bramall Lane against the Reds (via WhoScored).
However, there was one moment in particular which got the Blades fans out of their seats to applaud the Republic of Ireland international. As the ball came to him on the halfway line, the former Brentford man slipped and it looked for all the world like Roberto Firmino would pounce and have a clear run towards goal.
But Egan was having none of it, and despite being on the floor won the ball back by throwing his head in the way of the ball to stop the Brazilian racing away.
It is that type of commitment and ‘Yorkshire grit’ that the Sheffield United faithful love to see from their players. Here is how a few of them reacted to Egan’s tackle on Twitter after the game…
99% of players: I’ve lost the ball
Egan: I got this
— James Lee Clover (@2912clover) September 29, 2019
That’s what I want from my team
— Dean State (@deanstate2) September 28, 2019
World class that boy ..got to be the signing of the century UTB
— Neil Ketterick (@ketterick_neil) September 28, 2019
❤ this
— David Higginbottom ⚔ (@dhiggy64) September 28, 2019
Egan, Stevens, Baldock all proved well beyond their worth so far 💪🏻
— Adam ⚔️ (@adamburns1994) September 30, 2019
Mountain ⛰🔴⚔️⚪️
— david clarkson (@Junko67David) September 28, 2019
Unreal!
— Samantha (@samijwarrington) September 28, 2019
