Loan watch: Henderson's Blades go fifth
Dean Henderson helped newly promoted Sheffield United move up to fifth in the Premier League as the Blades held Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw.
George Baldock’s 78th-minute equaliser cancelled out Son Heung-Min's opener to extend Chris Wilder’s side’s unbeaten run to five league matches, with the visitors unlucky to have another goal ruled out by VAR.
The Yorkshire outfit are yet to lose on the road in 2019/20 and Henderson is part of the second-best defence in the Premier League, behind only Leicester City.
Elsewhere on Saturday afternoon, two of Henderson’s fellow goalkeepers also enjoyed victories with their loan sides.
Joel Pereira played in goal as Hearts overcame St Mirren 5-2 at Tynecastle to record only their second win of the Scottish top-flight season.
The sides shared four goals in the opening half an hour, with Steven Naismith and a Sean McLoughlin own goal twice putting caretaker-manager Austin MacPhee’s side in front.
Jonathan Obika and Danny Mullen were on target for the visitors, but further efforts from Oliver Bozanic, Jamie Walker and Jake Mulraney secured all three points for the Jambos.
Alex Fojticek’s Stalybridge Celtic also enjoyed an entertaining win, coming from 2-0 down at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium to defeat Bamber Bridge 3-2.
A late Salford City leveller prevented Kieran O’Hara from making it four wins out of four for United’s loan keepers.
Scott Fraser’s 78th-minute strike had looked like securing Burton Albion a berth in the Emirates FA Cup second round, but Richie Towell fired past O’Hara to send the match to a replay, to be played at the Brewers’ Pirelli Stadium.
Elsewhere in the world’s oldest cup competition, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson's Tranmere Rovers will also have to schedule in a replay after a 2-2 draw at home to Wycombe Wanderers.
The right-back was an unused substitute as Kieron Morris’s double book-ended strikes by the Chairboys’ Joe Jacobson and Alex Samuel.
Unfortunately, George Tanner and Ethan Hamilton’s involvement in the FA Cup this season is at an end.
Tanner’s Morecambe fell to a 4-1 defeat to Lancashire coast rivals Blackpool, with the Tangerines racing into a three-goal lead before Cole Stockton pulled one back prior to the break.
Sullay Kaikai’s 84th-minute finish finally ended the Shrimpers’ resistance, although Tanner got another valuable 90 minutes of competitive first-team football under his belt.
Hamilton’s Southend continued their losing run under new manager Sol Campbell with a shock 1-0 loss at Vanarama National League side Dover Athletic.
Ruel Sotiriou’s solo effort, six minutes from time, made it 18 defeats in 22 games for the Essex club in 2019/20, although our on-loan midfielder completed the full match on his return from suspension.
On the continent, Roma’s unbeaten run came to an end with a 2-0 defeat to Parma at the Ennio Tardini Stadium.
Smalling could do little to prevent either goal as the injury-affected Giallorossi dropped to sixth in Serie A.
Finally, Tromso and Aidan Barlow are not yet clear of the relegation picture in the Norwegian Eliteserien after being held to a goalless draw at home to fellow strugglers Valerenga.
The 19-year-old was substituted after half-time and his team still require four points from their remaining two fixtures, against Odd and Stabaek, to be assured of avoiding the automatic drop.
Reading this in our app? If not, you might miss some exclusive features not found on ManUtd.com. Download the Official App here.