Peschisolido takes Blades into new territory

Progress may have been wholly unconvincing, but Sheffield United can look ahead to their first ever League Cup semi-final with relish.

Neil Warnock's side edged nervously beyond Crystal Palace last night as the substitute Paul Peschisolido, first flicking in Peter Ndlovu's cross and then stabbing home Wayne Allison's knock-down, scored twice in two frantic minutes at the death.

A Premiership club awaits in the last four; having beaten two already en route and won five home games to reach this stage, this pocket of south Yorkshire fancy its chances.

The Blades may be a resurgent force this term, unbeaten for seven games in the build-up to this tie having already scythed down with Leeds and Sunderland, but this was always likely to prove a closely-fought scrap.

Just 17 days previously it had taken a last minute goal to see off the Londoners in a league fixture in this arena; by the interval last night, they boasted a similarly slender advantage.

That their goal came courtesy of one of their own was little surprise to those chilled travelling supporters. Some 10 minutes from the break, Michael Tonge's centre was headed powerfully goalwards by Shaun Murphy - himself a former Palace player, if only on loan - with Aleksandrs Kolinko leaping to tip behind. But the Latvian was less decisive from the resultant corner, Phil Jagielka nodding back across the six-yard box for Carl Asaba to stab into the roof of the net.

Asaba, an Eagle in his youth who rejected a cut-price move from Gillingham to Selhurst Park two years ago, has made a habit of scoring against Palace in recent times. He duly celebrated his 35th minute goal with gusto here, though within seconds the visitors should have been rewarded for their hustle and bustle with an equaliser, the livewire Andrew Johnson tumbling under Stuart McCall's challenge in the United area with the penalty appeals mystifyingly turned down.

In truth, the Londoners had been just as fortunate that Darren Powell's clumsy challenge on Asaba had gone equally unpunished in the opening exchanges of a tense if feisty contest. Indeed, the home side had created what few chances were eked out with Wayne Allison, giving the young Will Antwi a torrid senior debut, pummelling a header wide of the diving Kolinko's post.

That Antwi was featuring at all said much for Palace's present predicament - Trevor Francis has been robbed of a full first-team through injuries and fielded a quartet of outfield substitutes with one senior start between them on the bench - though their response was spirited and distinctly rattled the home side.

The excellent Tommy Black tore at dithering home defenders, with Paddy Kenny doing well to turn away Johnson's stinging shot. By the time the Irishman denied Julian Gray at full stretch the nerves had been transposed to the stands and, as Black wriggled to the by-line and squared across the goal-line, Robert Page succeeded only in bundling the equaliser into his own net.