Patrick Bamford on target as Sheffield United climb out of relegation zone

Patrick Bamford scored on his full Sheffield United debut as they beat 10-man Portsmouth 3-0 at Bramall Lane to climb out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.

The former Leeds striker turned home a scrappy rebound early in the second half for his first goal in 19 months after Sydie Peck’s penalty had given the Blades a 1-0 interval lead.

Peck converted his first senior goal for the club after Pompey defender Terry Devlin had been shown a straight red card for handling on the goal-line shortly before half-time.

Substitute Gus Hamer sealed back-to-back wins for Chris Wilder’s side, which saw them leapfrog Oxford out of the bottom three, with a brilliant curling effort from 25 yards.

The Blades, who secured their first win in five matches in Sunday’s 3-0 Steel City derby victory at Hillsborough, created several first-half chances before taking the lead.

Winger Andre Brooks’ early volley bounced over the crossbar and Bamford, who had made his first Blades appearance off the bench on Sunday, flashed an angled 25-yard shot wide.

Another recent signing, former Crystal Palace midfielder Jairo Riedewald, side-footed a golden chance straight at Portsmouth goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid.

But the Blades took the lead after Devlin had handled Japhet Tanganga’s thumping header from a corner on the goal-line.

Bamford, who joined the Blades as a free agent earlier this month on a short-term deal, looked all set to take the resulting penalty, but he handed the ball over to Peck, who buried a low spot-kick into the bottom corner.

Sam McCallum went close to extending the Blades’ lead before the interval when he fired straight at Schmid after running on to Callum O’Hare’s neat flick.

Pompey, who halted a six-game winless run by defeating Millwall on Saturday, mustered one first-half effort on goal – Florian Bianchini headed narrowly wide – and they fell further behind in the 54th minute.

Tanganga header’s header from another McCallum corner struck the crossbar and Bamford bundled home the rebound for his first goal since April 2024.

Bamford was replaced in the 63rd minute by Hamer, making just his second appearance off the bench after recovering from a knee injury sustained in October.

The Brazilian midfielder showed the quality his side has missed 10 minutes later as he curled home a beauty into the top corner from outside the box.

Brooks and Hamer both spurned chances to extend their side’s lead in the closing stages as Blades secured just their second home win of the season.