Chris Wilder felt luck was against Sheffield United again after they were shoved another step closer to the Championship by a 2-0 defeat at Brentford.

Mikkel Damsgaard’s cross was turned into his own net by teenager Oliver Arblaster for the game’s crucial opening goal.

Substitute Frank Onyeka slid in a second with time ticking down on both the match and the Blades’ stay in the Premier League.

Another defeat – their 22nd of the season – leaves them 10 points adrift of safety with only six games remaining.

To rub salt in the wounds from a chastening campaign, Sheffield United found out this week that a two-point deduction awaits them upon their now almost-inevitable drop into the Championship.

“I don’t think there was a lot in the game tactically, our shape was good out of possession,” said Wilder.

“For clubs in our position, to get to 0-0 at half-time is an achievement and it wasn’t a backs-to-wall first half.

“My disappointment is we tried to score with our first attack and if we’d got the first goal, it would have been a different game.

“We felt we could make it a nervous afternoon for Brentford. You could sense the relief from them.

“The first goal is a counter-attack, Ollie gets back into position, a wicked deflection and it goes flying in. Yet again it’s something that goes against us.”

A first win in 10 significantly eased any lingering worries Brentford had of being sucked into trouble.

They had a goal disallowed either side of Arblaster’s unfortunate opener, with Mathias Jorgensen offside when he poked in Mathias Jensen’s free-kick and a Damsgaard volley ruled out for a foul by Nathan Collins on Ollie McBurnie.

So the relief was palpable when Onyeka struck from a half-cleared throw-in to secure a much-needed victory.

It was one achieved without Ivan Toney, who was on the bench for the second match running and this time not required as a substitute.

“Happy and relieved,” was boss Thomas Frank’s immediate reaction. “I just said to the players, please don’t do that to me or themselves again – to not win in nine.

“That spell and this season is a reminder this league is brutal, relentless, the best and toughest league in the world.

“I’d been optimistic. We have great players, a great squad and then that hits you. But it’s a good win, a good performance – not through the roof – and I think it was well deserved.

“We got some luck from the first goal but we were due a bit.”

Luckless teenager Oliver Arblaster scored an own goal as Sheffield United were shoved another step closer to the Championship after a 2-0 defeat at Brentford.

Arblaster, making only his fifth Premier League start, held his head in his hands after inadvertently turning the ball past goalkeeper Ivo Grbic in the second half.

Substitute Frank Onyeka added a second with time ticking down on both the match and the Blades’ stay in the top flight.

Another defeat – their 22nd of the season – leaves Chris Wilder’s men 10 points adrift of safety with only six games remaining.

To rub salt in the wounds of a chastening campaign, Sheffield United found out this week that a two-point deduction awaits them upon their now almost-inevitable drop into the Championship.

United’s only real hope of a second away win of the season was by getting Ben Brereton Diaz and Ollie McBurnie up the pitch.

They managed it in the opening stages when Brereton Diaz raced through but his weak, left-footed finish was blocked by Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

Brereton Diaz had a better chance when he cut inside Vitaly Janelt onto his favoured right foot, but his attempted curler flew too high.

Other than that Brentford, by no means out of the relegation picture themselves, were utterly dominant.

But, with Ivan Toney on the bench for the second match running, they were lacking a cutting edge in front of goal.

Sergio Reguilon headed an early Mads Roerslev cross over and Yanelt sidefooted the ball straight into the arms of Grbic.

Brentford’s best chance of the first half arrived nine minutes before the break and it was all of Sheffield United’s making.

Auston Trusty’s ball out from the back was straight to Bryan Mbeumo, who quick as a flash sent Neal Maupay through on goal.

But the French striker was stretching as he prodded the ball past the onrushing Grbic and it rolled agonisingly wide of the post.

Brentford had the ball in the net early in the second half but Mathias Jorgensen was clearly offside when he poked Mathias Jensen’s free-kick in.

But they made the breakthrough just after the hour mark when Mbeumo fed Mikkel Damsgaard down the right.

The Denmark midfielder charged forward and attempted a low cross towards Maupay, only for the unfortunate Arblaster to stick out a leg and turn the ball into his own net.

Moments later, Mbeumo’s free-kick across the edge of the penalty area was volleyed home first time by Damsgaard, only for a VAR check to spot a foul on McBurnie by Nathan Collins.

In stoppage time, two minutes after coming off the bench, midfielder Onyeka slid the ball past Grbic to heap more misery on United and wrap up a first win in 10 for the Bees.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder could not hide his disappointment after his side let slip a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 against Fulham at Bramall Lane.

The Blades led 3-1 with four minutes of regulation time remaining after Ben Brereton Diaz’s second-half double sandwiched Oli McBurnie’s effort.

Joao Palhinha had headed Fulham level after Brereton Diaz’s opener, while two stunning finishes from substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Rodrigo Muniz – the latter’s in stoppage time – rescued the Londoners a point.

Wilder, whose side had conceded 21 goals in their four previous home matches, said: “When you score three goals at home in the Premier League, to only get a draw, I think that’s the disappointing aspect of it.

“Obviously the narrative from everybody was home form, goals conceded and being out of the game after 25 minutes, so we had to make sure we did something about it.

“We had to get a foothold in the game, so first base was reached at half-time and the message at half-time was we just needed to show a bit more quality, more belief, enjoy the ball a little bit more, and they did.

“We scored three good goals from our point of view. The flip side is another set-piece has hurt us and then two incredible finishes get them something out of the game.”

Brereton Diaz and McBurnie, who had a second effort after the interval ruled out for offside, combined with deadly precision for the Blades’ first two goals.

Wilder added: “I’m sure if we had been able to stick those two together for a little bit more time we would have reaped the rewards of two really good players, who obviously have an understanding.”

Fulham head coach Marco Silva also admitted it had been a bitter-sweet afternoon for his side after they had dominated before Brereton Diaz’s 58th-minute opener.

Silva said: “I have to say it was an exciting game for sure for the people who were here, but I have to be honest, it was a disappointing result for us. Clearly disappointing.

“When you are dominant from the first minute like we were, the team who created more clear chances to win the game – it is disappointing.

“Of course the reaction, I have to say, as a team it was fantastic. As a team we refused to lose this game because of the way we dominated.

“We showed the quality to come back from 3-1, scoring two great goals and creating more chances even to win the game in the last minutes.”

Muniz struck the woodwork twice, either side of the interval, before Fulham fell behind and the Brazilian striker has now scored eight in as many top-flight appearances.

Silva added: “It was unlucky for him with two off the post, but he kept his composure and trusted in himself.

“He scored a great goal to help the team get a point and there’s much more to come from him.”

Chris Wilder watched Sheffield United draw 2-2 at Bournemouth, then praised them for bouncing back from the heavy loss to Arsenal.

The Blades looked to be heading for only their second away win of the season as goals from Gustavo Hamer and captain Jack Robinson gave them a 2-0 lead in Dorset.

However, Bournemouth netted twice in the last 16 minutes through Dango Ouattara and Enes Unal to rescue a Premier League point.

Wilder, whose team were beaten 6-0 at home by the Gunners, said: “We rolled over on Monday so any sort of result today off the back of what happened would have been a good a good result and we’ve got that.

“We are off the bottom and it was like a war zone at the end, with bodies everywhere. Everybody had cramp.

“I said this morning that the players needed to show more and that it was about attitude over ability.

“The narrative from everybody is that we are done and I don’t think that was the case today. We just have to fight and battle away for it and who knows what happens between now and the end of the season?

He continued: “We have to just keep going and look at that next performance. We have got nine or 10 games left, that’s a quarter of the season.

“Hopefully this will give us a little bit more belief going into the next home game.”

In a pulsating game where the two teams racked up 45 shots between them, Bournemouth were awarded a penalty with just 14 minutes played after Tom Davies clumsily brought down Dominic Solanke from behind.

Solanke stepped up in search of his 15th Premier League goal of the season but lost his footing just as he was about to address the ball,  ballooning it over the crossbar off his standing left foot.

The home side’s misery was compounded when United took the lead against the run of play in the 27th minute as Hamer fired into the roof off the net after Jaydon Bogle’s initial effort had been parried out by Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto.

In the 64th minute Neto punched a corner against Solanke’s back, sending the ball kindly into the path of Robinson at the far post and the centre-back fired home off the inside off the post.

The luckless Solanke had a close-range goal ruled out for his handball following a VAR review, but they did pull a goal back 16 minutes from time when Ouattara was left totally unmarked to head in Ryan Christie’s corner from four yards.

Unal then rifled home at the far post in the first minute of added time to claim his first goal in English football and break the Blades’ hearts after they had failed to properly clear a corner.

Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola said: “I don’t think it was a good result for us. We wanted the three points.

“We finished the game a lot stronger than they did and created some chances but could not get the third goal.”

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has been handed a Football Association charge for his bizarre rant about a sandwich-eating linesman.

Wilder was incensed when one of referee Tony Harrington’s assistants was consuming a sandwich when the Blades manager went to see him after the 3-2 defeat at Crystal Palace last month.

Wilder described it as a “complete lack of respect” and also called Harrington’s performance “ridiculous” in an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield after the game.

He said: “It’s yet again another ridiculous performance from the referee.

“Every 50/50 or tight decision goes against us and if that’s what we’re going to have to deal with between now and the end of the season, we’re going to deal with it.

“But I’m not just going to go under the radar and not say anything. I’ve been to see the referee and I’ve told him that.

“One of his assistants was eating a sandwich at the time, which I thought was a complete lack of respect. Hopefully he enjoyed his sandwich while he was talking to a Premier League manager.”

The Football Association has sanctioned the Blades boss with a charge of improper conduct.

It said in a statement: “Chris Wilder has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3.1 in relation to media comments that followed Sheffield United’s Premier League match against Crystal Palace on Tuesday 30 January.

“It’s alleged that the manager’s comments constitute improper conduct in that they imply bias and or/attack the integrity of the referee, or referees generally, and/or bring the game into disrepute.

“Chris Wilder has until Friday, 16 February, to provide his response.”

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder praised his side’s character as they put last week’s thrashing by Aston Villa behind them to claim a first away win of the season at Luton.

The 5-0 loss at Bramall Lane last Saturday left the Blades 10 points adrift of Premier League safety, but they bounced back with a deserved 3-1 victory at Kenilworth Road.

Luton could not summon the intensity with which they dispatched Brighton 4-0 here 11 days previously. Instead, and despite dominating the ball in the first half, they allowed the visitors the spaces they needed to take control of the game by the break.

First, Cameron Archer recovered his composure after slamming wide from eight yards to seconds later give his team the lead, charging defender Gabe Osho off the ball before turning a clever finish inside Thomas Kaminski’s near post.

James McAtee doubled the lead from the penalty spot after a pitchside VAR review ruled handball against Reece Burke, as the Blades took a two-goal lead for the first time this campaign.

Carlton Morris got one back from 12 yards, another onfield review adjudging that Vinicius Souza had handled at a Luton corner.

But the Brazilian redeemed himself to net the clinching goal 18 minutes from time, rounding off a clinical counter-attack to slam home the Blades’ third and cut the gap to safety to seven points.

“It’s been long time coming,” said Wilder of his team’s first win on the road. “It shouldn’t be February. The club have come close on quite a number of occasions.

“It’s been a difficult week. I didn’t think they would have expected it to be any different, in terms of (my) message.

“It’s going to be there for a while that (Villa) result and performance, and the whole feel of it. So hopefully we can use last Saturday night, no hiding place. You have to own it as a manager. The players have to own it.

“What do you do? You work a little bit harder, tune in a little bit more to your week’s work, deliver good training sessions which they have done right the way through.

“I believe there was a steely attitude (against Luton), you feel it sometimes as a manager. There was desire to put what went wrong last week in today’s performance, and we did.

“Last week was certainly not how we set up this club since 2016 and through my time and through (former boss) Paul’s (Heckingbottom’s) time. It’s not what the club is built on, it’s not what we cherish.”

Luton boss Rob Edwards reflected on a missed opportunity against the league’s bottom side to add to the 11 points his team had taken from their previous six games.

“Tough day for us,” he said. “We made a couple of costly errors. It doesn’t matter how much of the ball you have, it’s what you do with it that counts.

“Goals change everyone’s emotions in a game. Key moments today we came up a little bit short.

“When we had loads of possession in the final third, we were not precise or quick or slick enough. We didn’t work the goalkeeper enough.”

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder admitted there was little his side could do to stop influential Crystal Palace duo Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze after the pair lifted the hosts to a 3-2 victory at Selhurst Park.

A frenetic first 30 minutes in south London started in stunning fashion with Ben Brereton Diaz’s opener inside the first 21 seconds, cancelled out by Eze via Olise’s assist.

James McAtee quickly restored United’s lead but the sides were square at the break after Olise once again teed up Eze before he got himself on the scoresheet with the 67th-minute game-winner.

Wilder, whose side remain bottom of the Premier League, said: “We got pushed back, those two players decided a pretty tight game.

“The quality that those two players have, you’re up against minimum £50million for both of those players. You have to deal with that, that’s what the Premier League is about.

“Could have done with Olise having just a few more days off but that’s the challenges you’re up against. You want to play against the best players, and when they find those bits and moments that we’re trying to find it makes it a difficult evening.

“We do prep and we do structure and we have a game plan but I think what happens is that those boys can destroy your game plan through individual brilliance.

“You can have all the plan in the world, but those boys find a way.”

Despite injuries severely hampering their appearances together, Olise’s seventh assist for Eze moved him into joint-first with Andros Townsend and James McArthur for the most times a Palace player has assisted a single team-mate.

The victory eased pressure on Palace boss Roy Hodgson after the Eagles’ 5-0 dismantling at the hands of Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, where fans in the away end raised banners protesting against the direction of their club.

Yet there were worrying scenes at Selhurst Park, with both Olise and Eze removed in the second half after they received treatment on the pitch.

The 76-year-old said he was more concerned about Eze than Olise, who had returned to his line-up for the first time in 2024 after sitting out since Palace’s Brentford victory in late December, having also missed a significant spell to start the season with a separate hamstring issue.

Hodgson said the pair “haven’t been fully assessed” but “both of them were pretty upbeat after the game, and with any luck” available to face bitter rivals Brighton on Saturday.

The Palace boss said the win and presence of the two influential players did “wonders” for his side’s confidence and added: “Hopefully we put the black mark of last week, the heavy defeat, behind us.

“I think people, if they’re looking at the team now, should be doing so with a large degree of optimism. This team and this group of players are capable of lifting Crystal Palace up into a higher position than we find ourselves in.”

Sheffield United cruised through to the FA Cup fourth round with a dominant 4-0 victory against League Two side Gillingham at Priestfield.

Danish striker Will Osula scored his first two goals for the Blades to put the Premier League’s bottom side in control at half-time before James McAtee’s quick-fire double late on earned last year’s semi-finalists their first away win in all competitions this season.

Blades manager Chris Wilder made five changes to his starting line-up for the game, but his side delivered an assured performance to avoid an upset and progress to round four with ease.

Osula’s opener came following a United break on 14 minutes, with his low effort going through the legs of Gills goalkeeper Jake Turner.

Turner’s fumble shortly after almost allowed Cameron Archer, one of those players who came into the United team for this game, to double the Yorkshire side’s advantage.

The Gills’ last FA Cup victory against top-tier opposition came five years ago against Cardiff, who also sat bottom of the Premier League upon their visit to Kent.

However, in front of a season-best crowd of 8,801, their afternoon went from bad to worse when Osula capitalised on Turner’s poor parry from Femi Seriki’s shot to side-foot home for his second six minutes before half-time.

Oli Hawkins wasted a brilliant chance for the Gills, League Two’s lowest scorers with just 21 goals in 25 games, when he miscued a header from Connor Mahoney’s corner 10 minutes after the break.

The Blades were also increasingly wasteful in front of goal, with McAtee and Archer flashing efforts over the bar, before the latter’s deflected shot on 63 minutes called Turner into action.

Gillingham’s best spell saw Mahoney test Wes Foderingham from distance, before Hawkins again failed to work the United goalkeeper with another header.

The hosts looked to have pulled themselves back into the tie 12 minutes from time when Max Ehmer’s glanced header crashed off the inside of the post, but the ball went back into play instead of over the line.

McAtee ended any doubts about the result on 83 minutes, as he beat the offside trap to meet Ollie Norwood’s pass and fire past the luckless Turner.

He completed the scoring with the best goal of the tie with three minutes remaining, blazing into the top corner from 20 yards after Gustavo Hamer’s short corner caught Gillingham napping.

Wilder sent new signing Ben Brereton Diaz on for his debut 20 minutes from time, but the Villarreal loanee was denied a first Blades goal by Turner in the final minute.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder admitted his first win back in charge was “emotional” after beating Brentford 1-0 at Bramall Lane.

The decisive moment came on the stroke of half-time when James McAtee superbly curled into the top corner for his first Premier League goal.

Wilder’s side had chances to put the game to bed through Anis Slimane, who saw his one-on-one effort saved by Mark Flekken before lashing another effort into the side-netting.

Bramall Lane celebrated victory after Stuart Attwell blew for full-time after a late handball call to earn United their second success of the season.

Wilder was glad to get his first win out of the way on his return to the club.

He said: “It was really emotional because that first win is huge for everybody.

“I’d have been desperately disappointed (if Sheffield United conceded) for the amount of effort they’ve put in.

“The word we use is suffer and the club has had to suffer this season, nationally we know what the narrative is, we are not daft, we listen to pundits and commentators about certain aspects. It’s our job to change that.”

Wilder felt his side could have sealed victory in the second half but spurned opportunities which gave the visitors a chance of an equaliser.

He added: “The only disappointing thing is we didn’t put the game to bed and we’ve all been in that position.

“We took a step into them and then we had to suffer at the end of the second half to put our bodies on the line and keep the ball out of the net and that’s the most simplistic way of doing it.

“It’s a quick turnaround especially with the amount of energy we put into the game and the emotional energy with what’s happened this week with the manager leaving and what that does to players and staff.”

Brentford top scorer Bryan Mbeumo picked up an ankle injury in their midweek defeat to Brighton and boss Thomas Frank admitted his presence was missed.

He said: “Of course he was a big miss.

“Take any of the top producers out of any of the top sides and they will also feel it but it is what it is and it is up to me to find solutions for it.

“We are trying and sometimes it doesn’t succeed the first time, hopefully we get another chance on Sunday (against Aston Villa).”

Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai goals ensured Liverpool ruined Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United homecoming with a 2-0 victory at Bramall Lane.

The Dutch centre-backfired home from a first-half corner and Szoboszlai added a second at the death to give the Reds all three points in South Yorkshire to extend their Premier League unbeaten run to eight games.

Jurgen Klopp’s men closed the gap on league leaders Arsenal to just two points.

Wilder was condemned to defeat in his first game back as Blades manager, two-and-a-half years after he left in March 2021, following Tuesday’s sacking of Paul Heckingbottom.

This was United’s 12th defeat from 15 games and although they are only four points behind Luton, they look to have a mountain to climb.

The 56-year-old was given a warm welcome before the game and his side started with enthusiasm, creating two openings in the first 20 minutes.

Cameron Archer led a lightning quick counter-attack and played in James McAtee, who really should have done better than to just poke straight at Caoimhin Kelleher from eight yards out.

It was Archer who had the next chance as he was given space to run in on goal until Van Dijk came across and blocked his shot at the vital moment.

Liverpool were far from their fluent best but began to take control and took the lead in the 37th minute.

Van Dijk was left completely free from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner and he stroked home from 12 yards for his first goal of the season.

The visitors continued to control the game and Blades goalkeeper Wes Foderingham had to be alert to tip Alexis Mac Allister’s dipping shot over the crossbar before the break.

Foderingham made an even better save 10 minutes into the second half as he showed brilliant reactions to palm over Mohamed Salah’s volley from another Alexander-Arnold corner.

The Blades managed to get a foothold in the game but their lack of quality in attack ensured that Kelleher was untested in the Liverpool goal as he filled in for the injured Allison Becker.

It was the Reds who had chances to kill the game as an incisive pass from the creative Alexander-Arnold played in Darwin Nunez but Foderingham again came to the Blades’ rescue.

United threw bodies forward in the final 10 minutes in a bid to try and earn a point, but they again failed to trouble Kelleher, with McAtee’s early effort their only shot on target in the match.

Instead, it was Liverpool who found a late goal, Szoboszlai clinically firing home after Nunez had won the ball back deep into time added on.

Sheffield United have sacked boss Paul Heckingbottom after falling to the bottom of the Premier League,

The Blades prop up the table with just five points after Saturday’s embarrassing 5-0 defeat at Burnley, their 11th reverse in 14 matches.

United chief executive Stephen Bettis said in a statement on the club website: “Firstly, on behalf of the board of directors, I’d like to thank Paul for all of his efforts at Sheffield United, firstly as U23s manager before stepping up to take control of first-team duties.

“His professionalism and dedication have been a credit to the club and I’m sure all Unitedites enjoyed the promotion-winning campaign.

“However, after slipping to the bottom of the table and a number of disappointing results and performances, it is felt that a change is needed to give the club a boost and every possible chance of remaining in the Premier League beyond this season.”

Heckingbottom, who was appointed on a permanent in November 2021, guided the club to promotion last term but a torrid start to the season has included an 8-0 home thrashing by Newcastle and a 5-0 defeat at Arsenal.

First-team coaches Stuart McCall and Mark Hudson have also left the club ahead of Wednesday’s home game against Liverpool.

Sheffield United say they hope to have a new manager in place before the Liverpool game with former manager Chris Wilder expected to return to Bramall Lane.

Club owner Prince Abdullah told TalkSport on Tuesday that Wilder was “the best guy on planet earth to take over the club right now in these circumstances”.

He said: “Chris is very optimistic he can save the season, he doesn’t think it’s easy, but he thinks it’s still possible.

“When you look at the table it’s a very special year, a very weird year when it comes to the standings, so it’s still early, the season is still long and we have every chance to achieve our goals.”

Slaven Bilic has been sacked as Watford head coach after just six months in charge, with Chris Wilder taking over for the rest of the season.

Wilder will be the Hornets' third permanent boss of the season after Rob Edwards was relieved of his duties in September having overseen just 10 league games, with Bilic named his replacement.

But after a 0-0 home draw with Preston North End at the weekend, Bilic now leaves Vicarage Road after a run of just one victory in his last eight Championship fixtures and with the club four points off the play-off spots.

Ben Manga, Watford's technical director, said a change of coach was "the only option available to re-energise for the final games ahead".

Wilder, who led Sheffield United from League One to the Premier League during a hugely successful spell between 2016 and 2021, was sacked earlier this season by Watford's fellow Championship side Middlesbrough, who were in the bottom three when he was sacked in October.

He becomes the 17th permanent boss at Vicarage Road since the Pozzo family acquired the club in June 2012.

Wilder's first game in charge will come away at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

Ralf Rangnick said it was "incredible" that Middlesbrough's goal was allowed to stand as they knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup on Friday.

The Championship side triumphed on penalties at Old Trafford after holding United to a 1-1 draw, Matt Crooks cancelling out Jadon Sancho's opener despite the ball striking Duncan Watmore's hand in the build-up.

The Red Devils were punished for missing a hatful of chances as they failed to win a home FA Cup match against a lower-league side for just the fourth time in the past 32 such meetings.

After Cristiano Ronaldo had missed an earlier penalty, a deflected Sancho strike put United in front, but they failed to build on that advantage despite dominating proceedings in the first half especially.

Overall, United had 30 shots, the most of any team in a single FA Cup match since the start of last season, finishing with 4.32 expected goals to Middlesbrough's 1.43.

Yet they found themselves level when Crooks turned in Watmore's lob, the goal allowed to stand after Watmore's clear handball was deemed to be accidental.

United continued to be profligate, Bruno Fernandes somehow hitting the post with the goal at his mercy and Anthony Elanga heading a clear chance straight at goalkeeper Joe Lumley.

It was teenager Elanga who missed the crucial kick in the shoot-out, firing his effort over the bar after the first 15 penalties had been scored.

United have now lost six of their past seven shoot-outs in all competitions and the Champions League is now their remaining faint hope of silverware for this season given they are 19 points off the Premier League pace set by Manchester City.

"In the end, the goal should never have been given. It's incredible that it stood," Rangnick told MUTV.

"It was a clear handball. I would not have needed VAR, it should have been seen by the referee himself but the VAR should not have given the goal.

"As far as I know, the referee and the VAR said it was not intentional, it was coincidental, how can it be coincidental if the hand is up there and he controlled the ball with his hand?"

Despite his frustration with the equaliser, Rangnick admitted United only had themselves to blame for their cup exit.

"We're really disappointed," he said. "The players, the staff, everybody. This was completely unnecessary. We should have killed off the game in the first half. We could easily have been 3-0 or 4-0 [up].

"We started well and played extremely well in the whole first half. Our movement and tempo of the game were exactly what we intended to do. But it was only 1-0 and a goal like this can always happen, although it shouldn't have happened from our perspective because we didn't defend well, we were too open in that counter-attack situation."

Boro boss Chris Wilder conceded he had expected Crooks' goal to be disallowed at first.

"We rode our luck and took our chances," he told ITV. "The decisions that are made through VAR have changed since I left the Premier League. I thought straight away it was handball. I thought it would be chalked off and [I am] delighted it wasn't.

"The FA Cup is alive and kicking, especially in Middlesbrough. I told the players it was all about making memories."

Chris Wilder twice wanted to resign as Sheffield United manager and demanded a £4million pay-off to do so, according to the club's owner. 

Wilder left his role as Blades boss by mutual consent on March 13 after almost five years at the club.

He was hugely successful in the first four of those, leading United to two promotions from League One to the Premier League.

He followed that up with a superb ninth-placed finish in the top flight last season.

This campaign has been a huge struggle, though, the Blades having been rooted to the bottom of the table on 14 points at the time of his departure. 

Prince Abdullah bin Musa'ad bin Abdulaziz Al Sa'ud - who took full control of the Blades in 2018 after five years as co-chairman - has claimed that, despite being "astonished" by Wilder's financial demands, he did not want him to leave.

"I told Chris, if we lose every game until the end of the season, we are not going to fire you," he told Sky Sports News. "We need you to be our coach. I am not talking about emotion, I just believe you are the best manager to bring us back to the Premier League.

"I told him recruitment could be better and that we could sit down after the season and talk about how we could make it better.

"I told him that I am not happy that sometimes after defeats when you talk to the media [and say], 'I can't make cake out of sand' and when he says, 'all I have is Championship players'.

"It does not reflect well on the club image. Those players finished ninth in the table last season; it hurts the club financially.

"I am OK with Chris taking all the credit when we win, but at least take some responsibility when we lose. Don't, under the pressure of some losses, say 'everything around me is rubbish'."

He added: "Chris explained in a one-hour call why he wanted to resign. He said that he felt the team needed a change, a new voice.

"We were very clear and said we don't want to fire you but if you want to resign, you can, but we will not pay you the same money as if we were firing you.

"The emails started between his representatives and our financial guy and we were astonished to find he had asked for £4m to resign.

"We said, 'no way are we going to pay you £4m, you are resigning, we are not firing you, why would we have to pay almost one year's salary?'"

Former Under-23s manager Paul Heckingbottom has since replaced Wilder until the end of the season. 

He has presided over two matches; a 5-0 Premier League defeat at Leicester City and a 2-0 FA Cup loss to Chelsea, the latter seeing the Blades produce a largely encouraging performance despite the scoreline.