Southampton made it three league games unbeaten after a 1-0 win in an exciting game at Bramall Lane thanks to an excellent goal from Moussa Djenepo.
Saints had the better of the early stages with Che Adams striking the post and forcing Dean Henderson into a good save from a header.
United grew into the game and were causing problems of their own but failed to test Angus Gunn on too many occasions.
The game was very physical and very watchable despite the lack of a final finish with both sides feeling like they could have scored multiple goals in the first-period.
Sheffield United did find the back of the net after 50 minutes when Oli McBurnie headed home from a free-kick, the goal was ruled out by VAR due to John Egan being offside and lunging for a header before it reached McBurnie
Saints did take the lead midway through the second-half courtesy of a brilliant solo goal from Djenepo who dribbled through the United defence before coolly slotting home.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side were living dangerously but their lives were made easier when Billy Sharp was shown a straight red card for a rash challenge on Stuart Armstrong.
Here’s how we rated the Southampton players:
Angus Gunn: 7
Made a great save to deny David McGoldrick with the score at 0-0 and another couple late on which helped to protect the lead.
Cedric Soares: 6
Started as a right wing-back before moving to the left late in the first-half and showed a lot of defensive discipline which others have struggled with in this position.
Jan Bednarek: 6
Another clean sheet for the Saints defence and Bednarek played his part in keeping the hosts outs.
Maya Yoshida: 5
Slightly more vulnerable than Bednarek but more composed than Vestergaard after playing in the middle of the three central defenders.
Jannik Vestergaard: 4
From hero to zero for Vestergaard, he was often a liability today and seemed uncomfortable on the left of the back-three. Although he wasn’t helped in the first-half by Djenepo bombing forward from left wing-back.
Moussa Djenepo: 7
Djenepo was used as a left wing-back for most of the first-half but was getting exposed defensively with Sheffield getting lots of joy down that side. He was then moved further forward and was allowed to show his attacking flair which resulted in a wonderful solo goal that proved to be the winner.
James Ward-Prowse: 6
Ward-Prowse put in a great ball in which led to Adams’ header being saved, he was then brought back to play at right wing-back to fill in for Cedric and coped admirably against United’s strong attack down the flanks.
Oriol Romeu: 7
Romeu’s strong season continues as he did all the simple things very well today, he was unspectacular but extremely effective in front of the defence.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: 4
Hojbjerg had a very sloppy game today as he gave the ball away on multiple occasions, even when he wasn’t under too much pressure.
Sofiane Boufal: 6
Made a couple of nice runs and a particular turn and through-ball caught the eye, however, his end product often lacked which included a poor shot when in acres of space from just inside the box.
Che Adams: 6
A much better outing for Adams who found space within United’s back-five which led to a hat-trick of great chances including hitting the post and being denied twice by Henderson. He seems to be getting closer to that elusive first goal.
Danny Ings (sub): N/A
Ings was the first substitute but wasn’t on until the 75th minute when the Saints backs were against the wall.
Stuart Armstrong (sub): N/A
Drew in the red card challenge but wasn’t on long enough to make an impact.
Shane Long (sub): N/A
Came on in injury time to waste a few seconds and provide an outlet on the counter-attack.