Bamford at the double as Sheff Utd breeze past Lincoln

Patrick Bamford scored twice to help Sheffield United to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Lincoln.

The result, who also saw Tahith Chong on the scoresheet, ended a three-match losing run for Chris Wilder's men in all competitions against a side which had won three of their previous four away matches.

Lincoln applied early pressure and had a great chance to open the scoring when Rob Street headed the ball back to Sonny Bradley, who headed over from the edge of the six-yard box. It was a chance that the skipper will surely feel he should have at least put on target.

Before then, United goalkeeper Michael Cooper comfortably dealt with a low shot from Conor McGrandles and an Adam Reach free-kick.

The home side then grew into the game with Joe Rothwell putting a long-range drive only a fraction wide and Ben Brereton Diaz firing straight at George Wickens in the Lincoln goal before they drew first blood.

The goal came two minutes before the break when Rothwell found Sam McCallum on the left-hand side of the area and he squared to Bamford, who found the net with a deft near-post flick.

Rothwell fired over from a good position soon after the restart before the Blades increased their lead.

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Chong struck in the 52nd minute when firing under Wickens from a tight angle after receiving the ball from Rothwell.

Lincoln made a triple substitution shortly after the hour-mark with Mikel Ladefoged, Yunus Konak and Chiedozie Ogbene all joining the action.

The changes did little to help Lincoln's cause, however, with the hosts continuing to hold the upper hand and it was no surprise when they went further ahead.

The third goal came in the 77th minute when Brereton Diaz swung the ball over from the right wing and Bamford beat Wickens with a well-executed far-post volley.

Ogbene threatened on a couple of occasions down the left wing, without seriously putting the defence under threat.

The Imps had failed to build on their promising start and United showed little sign of allowing them to find a way back into the game.

When the visitors did have a chance in the closing stages, Ladefoged spurned a golden opportunity to pull a goal back.

Cooper did superbly well to keep out the striker's close-range effort and when the rebound fell to Ladefoged, he somehow screwed his shot wide.

United leapfrogged their opponents into 13th place, while Lincoln slipped down to 15th after a second successive defeat.

Sheffield United's Chris Wilder: