EFL Cup REVIEW 9 Aug 2026: Sheffield United get their revenge, and it takes four minutes

Last season Mansfield went to Bramall Lane in the FA Cup third round and won 4-3. Sheffield United waited seven months for the return, got it in the Carabao Cup first round, and had the tie won inside four minutes: Joe Rothwell had two shots blocked, skewed the third into Patrick Bamford's path, and Bamford turned it past Harry Lewis from eight yards.

Then nothing, for an hour. Mark McGuinness made it two on 71 and Callum O'Hare a third on 89, so a scoreline that reads like a rout describes a tie that was one goal apart until the closing twenty minutes.

The bookings tell the same story from the other end. Seriki went into the book for United on 37, with the game still at one; Mansfield's Reed and Thompson followed, Thompson's two minutes before O'Hare put it out of reach.

Chris Wilder's Championship side finished the chances his League One hosts did not, which is most of what separated them and all of what the FA Cup tie had turned on.