It was a night of contrasts for a Scotland duo in Sheffield United’s match against Newcastle on Tuesday night. Newcastle’s Scotland international Ryan Fraser was sent-off before half-time in the game.
Meanwhile, his international colleague John Fleck helped the Blades to a long-awaited first Premier League win of the season. Billy Sharp’s goal from the penalty box confirming a 1-0 win for Chris Wilder’s team.
The victory still leaves Sheffield United at the bottom of the table, but they will be delighted to have earned a first league win of the season.
Two bookings in three minutes
As for Newcastle, they are in 15th place. Fraser was maybe a bit unlucky to receive two bookings in the space of three minutes, but his second challenge was arguably quite rash only moments after his first yellow card.
Ryan Fraser of Newcastle United is sent off against Sheffield United (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
The player will now be suspended for Newcastle’s game against Arsenal this weekend. As for John Fleck, he was tenacious in the middle of the park. It was a performance similar to those put in last season by the player.
Scotland boss may have been watching
The 29-year-old helped Sheffield United dominate the game long before they finally opened the scoring. If Steve Clarke had been watching no doubt he would have been impressed by how well Fleck performed.
Sheffield United’s John Fleck in action against Newcastle United (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Sheffield United can now go into the weekend’s game against high-flying Tottenham with confidence.
Scotland striker Oli McBurnie missed the game as he is recovering from a shoulder injury which has kept him out of action for the last few weeks. Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder and Steve Clarke will be hoping that the player returns to action soon.