Sheffield Wednesday lost the Steel City derby, but it wasn’t for the want of trying. At least, not for most of the team, but one player in particular put in a disappointing performance.
It was a huge day for both sets of fans, with the first meeting between the two teams in more than five years after a spell in the third tier for Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United’s Premier League adventures keeping the teams apart.
Sheffield Wednesday went into the game as ‘underdogs’ according to Danny Rohl, but they certainly didn’t act like it on the day.
A spirited first-half display from the Owls saw United’s attempts to control the game stifled, and if anything, Wednesday went in at half-time looking the most likely to score.
However, a strong showing in the second-half saw the Blades take the lead, and they held firm to see out the win from there on out.
It could all have been different for Wednesday had chances been taken, and if one player had stood up and been counted when it mattered most.
Barry Bannan went missing in the Steel City derby
In the buildup to the big game, Sheffield Wednesday legend Lee Bullen suggested Barry Bannan would be ‘crucial’ to the team’s chances in the derby.
Games like this require top performances from the most experienced players, especially leaders like Barry Bannan. However, the Scottish midfielder simply did not deliver, and was largely absent for much of the game.
A look at his stats on the day paint a picture of a player who failed to compete in key areas, and was unable to impact the game with his passing, tackling, and defending.
As per SofaScore, Bannan lost 71% of his duels across the 90 minutes (two out of seven won, one ground, one aerial). He gave away three fouls overall, including a reckless challenge on Harrison Burrows that saw the Owls skipper pick up a booking.
Digging deeper, Bannan — a player so often associated with composure and being able to dictate play — ended up losing possession a huge 16 times against Sheffield United, and was dribbled past three times.
Even his passing, which is normally highly effective, was poor in the Steel City derby. While 72% of his passes were accurate in total, the 34-year-old racked up a 40% success rate with his crossing and a 30% success rate for long passes.
While SofaScore picked out Yan Valery as the worst player on the pitch with a 6.0 out of 10 rating, Bannan’s 6.7 score looks incredibly generous and ignores the fact the captain struggled with the fundamentals of the game on Sunday.
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A valiant effort, but Sheffield United dominated midfield
The key to most games is winning the midfield battle, not least of all in a feisty derby match like this one, and in that respect Bannan well and truly lost.
Vinicius Souza wasn’t exactly at his best, but he still managed to control the game from the middle of the park, while in front of him, Gustavo Hamer and Callum O’Hare found pockets of space and were able to cause Sheffield Wednesday real problems.
| Statistic from Sheffield United vs Sheffield Wednesday | Barry Bannan | Vinicius Souza | Callum O’Hare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accurate passes (%) | 72 | 81 | 81 |
| Key passes | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Possession lost | 16 | 11 | 7 |
| Duels won (%) | 29 | 63.6 | 66 |
| Touches | 54 | 57 | 29 |
Indeed, it was O’Hare who forced the breakthrough for the Blades with a smart pass into the box for Tyrese Campbell’s goal.
That was exactly the kind of impactful moment many Wednesday fans would have been hoping Bannan could offer in such a crucial game, but on this occasion, his performance will largely be remembered for that dangerous tackle and little else.