Sheff Utd slip away from top two after dramatic defeat at Plymouth

Substitute striker Muhamed Tijani scored an 88th-minute winner as basement side Plymouth upset promotion-chasing Sheffield United 2-1 at Home Park.

Tijani scored from 12 yards out after United failed to clear Bali Mumba’s dangerous cross and the ball fell kindly to the striker.

Ryan Hardie cancelled out Jesurun Rak-Sakyi’s 44th-minute opener after 81 minutes to set up an unlikely comeback for relegation-haunted Argyle.

Greens boss Miron Muslic recalled Jordan Houghton, Nathaneal Ogbeta, Victor Palsson and Callum Wright following the midweek 3-0 defeat at Swansea.

While opposite number Chris Wilder made five changes to the Blades side beaten at home by Millwall on Tuesday.

In came Callum O’Hare, Rak-Sakyi, Harry Clarke, Vini Souza and striker Tom Cannon.

Out went Rhian Brewster, Ben Brereton Diaz, Tyrese Campbell, Hamza Choudhury and Femi Seriki, who all started the game on the substitutes’ bench.

Former Argyle goalkeeper Michael Cooper remained untroubled for the first 25 minutes by a shot-shy Plymouth.

The closest either side came to getting an effort on goal in the early stages was when United skipper Jack Robinson looped a header over from a 12th-minute Rak-Sakyi corner.

Argyle’s first effort on goal was when home skipper Adam Randell volleyed over the bar from distance in the 28th minute. Still Cooper remained an onlooker.

Cooper’s first action came in the 37th minute when he had to race out of his area to clear a through ball to Argyle forward Mustapha Bundu down the right wing.

Bundu had appeals turned down a minute before as he tangled with marker Robinson and Cooper on the edge of the United penalty area as he attempted to latch on to a towering ball into the box.

United took the lead through Rak-Sakyi in the 44th minute as he cut inside on his right, sending marker Ogbeta the wrong way, and let fly with his left foot into the far corner past diving keeper Conor Hazard.

Hazard made a superb 51st-minute save to deny Rak-Sakyi his second, diving low to his right to keep out the striker’s left-foot shot from just inside the area after Sydie Peck’s pass put the scorer in on goal.

Anel Ahmedhodzic had his downward header from a Gustavo Hamer corner saved on the line by Hazard on 57 minutes.

United failed to clear Adam Randell’s 64th-minute free-kick into the area, following a foul on Tijani, and then Hardie’s shot on the spin hit flew off the top of the bar.

Kieffer Moore was introduced for Cannon as part of a triple substitution after 68 minutes as United sought to build on their lead.

But it was Argyle who scored next, in-form Hardie clinically finishing from close range, first-timing home after latching on to substitute Joe Edwards’ scissor kick following a Randell corner.

And then Tijani won it two minutes from time.

The managers

Plymouth’s Miron Muslic:

“The message at half time was we are in this game and we must believe we can turn this. They are a top team and would have wanted to score a second goal. It’s important to start strong but more important to finish strong.

“I knew if we had to do something extraordinary Joe (Edwards) can help us. Joe’s first action without touching the ball was to lift the crowd and that was massive. Joe did it today, like a skipper. Magnificent.

“I think Joe himself would have been frustrated at not starting but I think today’s decision was the right one. And he will start the next game. I went with (Muhamed) Tijani because for the last 30 (minutes) because I thought we could win the game.

“He flicked-on four or five, six headers then rewarded himself with a brilliant goal. After the Swansea defeat I predicted the unpredictability of Argyle. It drives me crazy and costs me lots of lost sleep at night.

“We have to believe we can win games back-to-back. We have been here before now we have to do it next Friday.

“Bali (Mumba) was key for us to turn the game. I knew once Ryan (Hardie) scored then that would be big for us and I thought ‘we can do this’. The almost impossible is possible again.”

Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder:

“The biggest message was to go and be clinical. We did what we needed to do in getting the first goal. We dealt with the throw-ins and set pieces.

“The first goal goes in, and that quietens the home crowd down. But to go and get the second goal would have killed the game.

“We never really showed the quality we should be showing at the top end of the pitch. We should have scored when Tyrese (Campbell) was through. They found a winner. Their lad does brilliant with that cross in from in front of the dugout.

“We had to go and get the second goal. At any level one goal is never enough. We got to 75 minutes I never felt there was a goal coming. That’s not arrogance. Coops (Michael Cooper) didn’t have much to do. We were in control of the game.

“From their point of view it’s a massive victory. From our point of view it’s a massive disappointment – three defeats in a week.

“We couldn’t have had a worse week in terms of results. Players have to pick themselves up and that’s what I was talking about in the huddle afterwards.

“We have not been good enough in the last three games. I don’t think it’s pressure or nerves. We are just not finding big enough moments.

“We need a big week now when we get back in on Monday. We can’t afford to lose three on the spin if we want to be in amongst it. We need a win on Friday to get that feeling back inside us.”