Sheff Utd 3-3 Fulham

An incredible second half saw Fulham and Sheffield United play out a 3-3 draw at Bramall Lane.

The Whites dominated the opening 45 but went in level, and were then punished when Ben Brereton Diaz netted.

João Palhinha responded immediately, but goals from Oli McBurnie and another from Brereton Diaz put the Blades in control.

The turning point then came when another McBurnie strike was ruled out by VAR for offside, with Bobby De Cordova-Reid able to reduce the deficit at the other end.

A goal of the season contender from Rodrigo Muniz in stoppage time earned a point as his overhead kick found its target, the only frustration being that we couldn’t nick what would have been a deserved winner thereafter.

With the international period throwing up no new injury problems, Marco Silva was able to name an unchanged side to the one that defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 a fortnight previous.

Fulham controlled the early proceedings without creating a plethora of chances – Antonee Robinson stinging the palms of Ivo Grbic from range the only shot on target we had to show for our dominance in the opening 20.

If anyone was going to break the deadlock, Muniz would have been a good shout, and he almost did just that in the 38th minute, poking goalwards from close range, requiring Grbic to push it onto the post. The ball came back to Muniz but at an impossible angle, and he sent his rabona off target.

We hadn’t seen much of United at all in the first half, but a well struck Gustavo Hamer hit from the edge of the box sailed just a yard wide to give the home fans something to applaud.

That Muniz rabona showed the confidence of the man, and he twice went close to the opener in the opening stages of the second half with lovely attempts. First his volley from an Andreas Pereira corner was deflected behind, and then his looping header from the same teammate’s cross had Grbic beaten but came back off the post.

It had been a good start from the Whites, with a decent opportunity falling Saša Lukić’s way in the area following positive running from Willian, but Ben Osborn made a crucial block to repel the strike.

Similarly last ditch defending then denied Alex Iwobi, as Fulham continued to turn the screw.

But, out of nowhere, the hosts went in front. Tosin’s pass out of defence was intercepted, leaving our backline exposed, and Brereton Diaz could not miss after McBurnie put it on a plate.

The Fulham response was immediate, though. Andreas’ corners had been dangerous all afternoon, this time Palhinha ran across goal to meet it and guide his header over Grbic and inside the far post.

We hoped that would put us back in the ascendency, but another suckerpunch saw us fall behind once more. The roles were reversed this time, with Brereton Diaz latching onto a quick free-kick and squaring for McBurnie to tuck in.

Things then went from bad to worse as Hamer’s deep cross was converted at the back stick by Brereton Diaz.

McBurnie thought he’d grabbed his second, jabbing home when Fulham failed to clear a free-kick, but VAR spotted an offside in the build-up.

Tom Cairney and De Cordova-Reid had come on to try and find a way back into things, and they combined to do just that when our skipper teed up the winger who lashed in accurately from 20 yards.

Fellow substitute Adama Traoré skewed one wide as we approached the end of normal time, with the announcement of 14 added minutes buoying the away fans and irking the home.

Muniz only needed three of them to make his mark, sending an incredible overhead kick into the corner of the net from Traoré’s clipped cross.

With plenty of time still to play, the ball did not leave the Blades half as Fulham tried everything to snatch a dramatic winner. Muniz and Cairney each drew saves from Grbic, but in the end we had to settle for a point on a remarkable afternoon in South Yorkshire.