Andre Brooks shines in emotional Blades return
Andre Brooks delivered a composed performance on his return to Sheffield United, helping Norwich City secure a 3-1 Championship victory at Bramall Lane. The 23-year-old winger, who joined City in a summer transfer reportedly worth up to £9m, was part of the Blades academy from the age of eight before moving to Carrow Road.
Brooks had a key moment when his shot was blocked off the line in the build-up to Mathias Kvistgaarden’s match-sealing goal. He was substituted late on to a warm reception from the home fans, reflecting mutual respect.
Philippe Clement said: “All praise to Andre. He came back to the club that he loves, it’s like his family here, so that’s a difficult one as a young player for the first time. I know from the past, so we talked about that this past week, and he played a really good game. That’s sometimes difficult because your emotions are sometimes bigger, but he did that really well. He played well.”
He added: “He was respectful towards their fans, their fans were also respectful towards him at the end of the game when he came off. So I think those things we want to see in football.”
Clement also praised Sheffield United’s manager Chris Wilder and his team’s intensity, highlighting the importance of controlling possession against a pressing side. The victory marked a positive away result for Norwich, with Clement acknowledging the travelling support’s commitment: “We live a little bit in the outskirts of the UK so away games mean a lot of travelling and a long time on the road. They do a lot of effort to follow the team. They were with big numbers again.”
Chris Wilder praises Norwich’s front three threat
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder singled out Norwich City’s attacking trio as among the best in the Championship after his side’s 3-1 defeat at Bramall Lane.
Wilder highlighted Mo Toure and Anthony Musaba’s goals, plus Andre Brooks’ involvement in the build-up to the third, scored by Mathias Kvistgaarden. He pinpointed Toure’s breakaway goal just before half-time as a turning point.
“They are dangerous on the counter,” Wilder said. “Listen the front three especially, in my opinion, are possibly the best front three or one of the best in the division in how they play. But I felt in the first half for a spell we never allowed them to get the ball up to them, because we shut that down and we wrestled the initiative back.”
He criticised his side’s defending on the goals conceded and their lack of response after Norwich’s third: “I thought we made it pretty comfortable for Norwich. They managed the game well, managed the game better than us, and the goals that we’ve conceded are really poor.”
Wilder was frustrated by the last 20-25 minutes, saying: “We never looked like getting back into the game and putting pressure on them and asking them the question. It’s irritated me. And I should imagine maybe a stronger word was possibly used in that changing room to what I am saying here, but I didn’t enjoy the last 20, 25 minutes. We never looked like getting back into the game and that, for me, is not how I want to see my team play.”
Anthony Musaba urges City to set high standards
Anthony Musaba believes Norwich City’s 3-1 win at Sheffield United should become the benchmark for their Championship campaign.
Musaba’s early goal set the tone before Mo Toure restored the lead after Patrick Bamford’s equaliser. Substitute Mathias Kvistgaarden sealed the victory with his first touch. It was Norwich’s first league win at Bramall Lane since 2017.
Musaba told The Pink'un, The Pink'un, The Pink'un: “Honestly, this is how we are used to working in our training. This is what we expect from ourselves. But there are so many games, and it’s always going to be like ups and downs. But this is how we should play, and this is what we should expect from ourselves as a team. We can set the bar high because we have the qualities and the mentality. How we play today, this is how we should play in our good days.”
He added: “We have already shown in a couple of games how good we are as a team. It’s just about getting the points. It’s just about being ruthless in front of the goal. We are showing that we are capable of scoring in a game, like two, three or four goals in a game. We showed it here with a win. That’s the most important thing, and I’m happy we’ve done this today here in Sheffield.”
Musaba also praised the team’s resilience after conceding Bamford’s equaliser: “We didn’t give up. It was still early in the game, but we showed a fight mentality and a win mentality. That’s how we scored our second goal just before half time. Then we kept going on in the second half and scored a third goal. With the new players coming in, they brought freshness again, and they brought the top energy for us to score the third goal to kill the game.”