Sheffield United 2 Wolves 0 - Report and pictures

Nuno Espirito Santo's team played for 75 minutes with 10 men after last man Conor Coady was sent off for pulling back Clarke.

The striker netted shortly before the break, converting Enda Stevens' cross.

Wolves should have equalised on 50 minutes but Ruben Neves' penalty hit the post - and nine minutes later Clarke sealed the points with a header past John Ruddy.

Analysis

A lot's changed at Wolves in the past three months...but some things will always stay the same.

Leon Clarke only scored three goals in 32 appearances during his second spell with Wolves...tonight he scored two against them in 90 miserable minutes for Nuno Espirito Santo's team, writes Tim Spiers at Bramall Lane.

There was an inevitably about in-form Clarke getting on the scoresheet but no one could foresee the drama that unfolded after just 15 minutes here.

Conor Coady's early red card for pulling back - you guessed it - Clarke when through on goal changed the whole dynamic of what should have been a blood-and-guts top-end of the table clash in the teeming Yorkshire rain.

There were few arguments for the red but .

All of which overshadowed the return of Helder Costa, who had been absent since March and missed Wolves' last 17 league games. Costa was given the hook shortly after Coady's red and Wolves only once looked like getting a result from this game thereafter.

That came when they were awarded the most gilt-edged of all linelines just after the break when 1-0 down...but Ruben Neves missed his spot kick and that was pretty much that for the night.

Wolves gave it a go for the final half an hour, playing three up front despite their man disadvantage, but there was no end product to speak of.

With just 10 men against resurgent and highly motivated opposition, backed by a vociferous home crowd, this was almost mission impossible.

Saturday's trip to Burton now feels like a pivotal contest just before the international break, with the top 10 becoming awfully congested.

Match report

The return of Costa after almost six months out with an ankle injury was the headline team news at Bramall Lane.

Barry Douglas and Alfred N'Diaye, who both impressed off the bench in Saturday's 2-1 win over Barnsley, came in for the benched Ruben Vinagre and Romain Saiss, while Ivan Cavaleiro also dropped out as Nuno named arguably his strongest XI of the season.

Sheffield United were unchanged from the team that beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 on Sunday, meaning Wolves old boy Leon Clarke started up front. Another ex-Wolves man, Richard Stearman, is sidelined through injured for another couple of weeks.

Wolves got into a rhythm early doors and forged a good opportunity after nine minutes when Leo Bonatini nicked the ball off a defender and edged towards the box, but his shot was too close to keeper Jamal Blackman.

The Blades responded with a chance of their own when Jack O'Connell's header from a corner was pushed wide by John Ruddy.

It was an even start to what was shaping up to be a great contest - but then came the pivotal moment of the match.

Clarke was running through on goal and Coady, jostling with him, tugged him back. It wasn't a big impedement but the offence was clear and referee Peter Bankes had no hesitation in sending Coady off against his former club.

From the resulting free kick Paul Coutts sent a shot inches over - and that was just the beginning of the one-way traffic.

Nuno shuffled his pack and sacrificed a gutted Costa, with Romain Saiss replacing him in a 4-3-2 formation with Diogo Jota floating around Bonatini and tracking back when he could.

The rest of the half was almost exclusively played in Wolves' half. Nuno's team kept a good shape but the ball just wasn't sticking up front and kept coming back at that.

Roderick Miranda made a magnificent block, Ruddy pushed a cross over his own bar, Clarke almost got a free shot from six yards and Chris Basham headed wide with Wolves sat deep and on the ropes, hoping to make it to half time goalless.

But then came the inevitable - a goal from Clarke. He met Enda Stevens' left-wing cross to drive home from close range in a goal that was all-too-simple from a Wolves perspective.

All told there were no positive signs from a miserable first half in the torrential Sheffield rain with the hosts enjoying 59 per cent possession and nine shots to Wolves' two.

Nuno made a half time change, replacing Bonatini for Bright Enobakhare as he sought more pace up front.

Wolves began the second half with a positive mindset, playing further up the field and taking the game to the Blades - and it should have paid dividends almost immediately when Jota won a penalty when he was dragged back by Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Up stepped Ruben Neves from 12 yards...but his penalty smacked against Blackman's left-hand upright.

If Wolves needed confirmation it wasn't their night that arrived eight minutes later when Clarke grabbed his second of the night, greeting Basham's free kick with a bullet header that flashed past Ruddy.

Neves was given the hook for Cavaleiro as Nuno went for broke but despite some decent possession in the United third Wolves' lot didn't improve.

They should have been further behind when David Brooks somehow stabbed wide from six yards. This came just after an Alfred N'Diaye 30-yarder almost reached the top tier behind Blackman's goal, which summed up Wolves' evening aptly.

Thereafter they had a couple of dalliances in and around the Blades box with Danny Batth heading a corner wide and Jota unleashing a long-range thunderbolt that Blackman tipped over.

But in truth the game was up on the hour mark as Wolves slipped to fourth in the table on a night to forget.

Key moments

9 - Leo Bonatini takes advantage of some slack defending and breaks into the box - he shoots goalwards but it's straight at Jamal Blackman

15 - RED CARD - Conor Coady pulls back Leon Clarke just outside the box as the striker runs through on goal. Referee Peter Bankes sends him off.

39 - GOAL - Enda Stevens' low cross from the left is met by Leon Clarke who slams home from six yards.

50 - PENALTY - Perfect opportunity to get back into it when Jota is pulled back in the box. Ruben Neves steps up...but hits the post.

58 - GOAL - Chris Basham's right-wing free kick is met by Leon Clarke who powers a header past John Ruddy.

Line ups

Sheffield United (3-5-2): Blackman; Carter-Vickers, Wright (Duffy, 56), O'Connell; Baldock, Coutts, Basham, Fleck, Stevens (Lafferty, 45); Brooks, Clarke (Evans, 79). Subs: Moore, Lundstram, Sharp, Carruthers.

Goals: Clarke (39, 58)

Wolves (3-4-3): John Ruddy; Batth (c), Coady, Miranda; Doherty, Neves (Cavaleiro, 64), N'Diaye, Douglas; Costa (Saiss, 19), Bonatini (Enobakhare, 45), Jota. Subs: Norris, Vinagre, Price, Marshall, Cavaleiro.

Attendance: 25,893 (2,233 Wolves fans)

Referee: Peter Bankes

League position

4th (20 points from 10 matches)