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Thomas Cannon's goal was his fourth for Sheffield United Thomas Cannon returned to the bet365 Stadium to haunt former club Stoke as the Irish striker scored Sheffield United's winner. Cannon was starring on loan for Stoke last season before Leicester recalled him and sold him to the Blades for an initial £10m in January. He has found goals harder to come by at United and this strike was only his third of the season as the visitors made it five wins on the bounce against Stoke to get over their Boxing Day bashing at Wrexham. Jairo Riedewald had opened the scoring with his first United goal before Cannon's effort but Ben Wilmot halved the deficit to set up a nervy finale, only for Stoke's Ben Pearson to be dismissed late on for fouling Patrick Bamford. The win was the response Blades boss Chris Wilder wanted after the Wrexham debacle, while Stoke have now lost seven of their last 10 games to lose further ground in the promotion race. Callum O'Hare should have opened the scoring when he met Femi Seriki's low right-wing cross unmarked on the penalty spot, but skied his effort. Ben Gibson missed with a headed chance before Tatsuki Seko found Sorba Thomas at the back post and he headed straight at Blades goalkeeper Michael Cooper when he had time to control the ball and pick his spot. The game came to life on 47 minutes when Riedewald celebrated signing a new Blades contract by getting on the wrong side of Sam Gallagher to poke home. United were cruising when Cannon made it 2-0 on 53 minutes after he converted Harrison Burrows' cross from six yards out. But United conceded five at Wrexham and looked vulnerable again when they failed to clear their lines following a long throw and Wilmot fired home off the underside of the bar on 65 minutes. Robert Bozenik twice went close before Cooper saved from Bosun Lawal and the Blades were creaking. But then, after Viktor Johansson saved from Bamford, Pearson was red-carded when he pulled the former Leeds striker down two minutes from time to deny him a goal-scoring chance. Stoke boss Mark Robins told BBC Radio Stoke: "You can make changes, and by the way, the changes that I made, I don't like the booing because we've got a limited squad and those players need the support as well as anybody else. "I don't like that. They're all trying, regardless of what people think. For whatever reason, I'll make those changes. When that happens, I don't expect my substitutions to be booed. You know, you don't expect that because it's done at the right time for the right reasons. "We're all on the same page and we're all supportive and we hate losing games of football, all of us, collectively, all of us. "You win them together, and you lose them together, and you draw them together, and in the second half, I know that performance was much, much better and what the supporters expect. " This video can not be played Mark Robins: "I don't like the booing" Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield: "It was very rewarding, we got our rewards. I don't think people should really zone in on maybe the last 15-20 minutes because that was the end bit. The first 65-70 minutes were outstanding. "And then when we had to show bit of courage and personality, which I questioned, we showed it. They've got to stop putting me through the ringer, me and 3, 000 Sheffield United fans! "There's a lot of work to be done, but it's nights like these, moments like this, you know you're always chasing winning feeling and we got it. "I thought in the first 20 minutes we were outstanding, the first half we were excellent. " This video can not be played Chris Wilder: 'We got our rewards' After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 29th December 2025 at 22: 08 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Mark Robins Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Chris Wilder Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Mark Robins Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Chris Wilder Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Stoke have won two of their last three home league games against Sheffield United (L1), more than they had in their previous 11 (W1 D7 L3). Sheffield United have won their last four league games against Stoke by an aggregate score of 11-1. They’ve never won five in a row against the Potters before. Three of the last four occasions of Stoke facing a side twice in the same month in the league has been in December – W1 L1 v Sunderland in 2024, D1 L1 v Sheffield United in 1997 and L2 v QPR in 1984. Stoke have won their final league game in just one of the last nine calendar years (D3 L5), though it was a 1-0 victory against eventual play-off winners Sunderland last year. When playing their final league match of a calendar year away from home, Sheffield United have lost 13 of their last 15 matches, with the exceptions being wins against Fulham in 2021 and Blackpool in 2022. Match ends, Stoke City 1, Sheffield United 2. Second Half ends, Stoke City 1, Sheffield United 2. Foul by Ben Gibson (Stoke City). Femi Seriki (Sheffield United) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Substitution, Sheffield United. Alex Matos replaces Jairo Riedewald. Offside, Stoke City. Róbert Bozeník is caught offside. Ben Wilmot (Stoke City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Patrick Bamford (Sheffield United). Foul by Harrison Burrows (Sheffield United). Lamine Cissé (Stoke City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Fourth official has announced 7 minutes of added time. Attempt missed. Tomás Rigo (Stoke City) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Ben Pearson (Stoke City) is shown the red card. Patrick Bamford (Sheffield United) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Ben Pearson (Stoke City). Substitution, Sheffield United. Mark Mc Guinness replaces Thomas Cannon. Attempt saved. Patrick Bamford (Sheffield United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal by Viktor Johansson (Stoke City). Assisted by Harrison Burrows. Corner, Stoke City. Conceded by Femi Seriki. Corner, Stoke City. Conceded by Tyler Bindon. Corner, Stoke City. Conceded by Michael Cooper. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.