David McGoldrick broke his Premier League duck with two goals as Sheffield United dented Champions League-chasing Chelsea with a 3-0 victory at Bramall Lane.
McGoldrick benefitted from static Chelsea defending to end his 25-game wait for a top-flight goal with a close-range rebound after a Kepa Arrizabalaga save on 18 minutes.
Oli McBurnie’s clinical header punished more poor Chelsea defending on 33 minutes before the Blades secured another huge victory in their bid for European qualification when McGoldrick completed his double 13 minutes from time.
Sheffield United climb to sixth in the Premier League after a fourth consecutive home victory, while a dismal outing for third-place Chelsea could be compounded by victories for Leicester and Manchester United that will see the Blues drop as low as fifth come Monday.
1 – David McGoldrick has scored his very first Premier League goal; it took him 42 shots and 1615 minutes to do so. Relief. pic.twitter.com/OuhJQfeue7
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 11, 2020
Sheffield United started with all the confidence of a side chasing their third straight home win since the restart but were given an early scare by the Premier League’s in-form player when Christian Pulisic headed wide from Reece James’ cross on seven minutes.
It proved to be nothing more than a scare, with the Blades’ rigid defence laying the platform for increasingly encouraging attacks which culminated with the moment McGoldrick has been waiting for all season.
McBurnie’s heavily-deflected volley drew a stunning save Arrizabalaga, but the Spaniard could only claw the ball into the path of McGoldrick, who escaped the static Chelsea defence to open his top-flight account with his 42nd shot of the season.
Chelsea lacked penetration in attack, their response to falling behind was non-existent and they soon found themselves two down after more shambolic defending.
A simple one-two saw Enda Stevens evade Willian before his pinpoint cross found McBurnie unmarked in the six-yard box, and the Scotland international picked out the bottom corner with a clinical header.
James’ drive drew a fine save from Dean Henderson as the first half drew to a close but, with Chelsea unable to reduce the arrears, Frank Lampard turned to his bench as Antonio Rudiger and Marcos Alonso were introduced at the break.
It took the introduction of Olivier Giroud on 66 minutes to finally kick Chelsea into gear, but their hopes of salvaging something from the game were soon extinguished.
A quick counter-attack saw McGoldrick send substitute Lys Mousset down the right and when Rudiger’s woeful clearance fell for McGoldrick, he rammed home an emphatic second as the Blades’ European dream gathered more pace.
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