Emotional Sheffield United striker Oli McBurnie dedicated his goal to little brother Xander as he fights cancer.
Blades frontman McBurnie enjoyed an outstanding game as Chris Wilder’s strugglers ran Fulham close in a six-goal thriller. Afterwards he spoke of the battle his younger sibling Xander, 26, is facing after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The ex-Bradford City academy prospect, who signed for Buxton last summer after a spell at Weymouth, is undergoing chemotherapy. McBurnie said: “My little brother got diagnosed with cancer a month and a half ago and it puts everything into perspective.
“You think it’s hard being at the bottom of the league but he does chemo every Friday and that’s hard. We’ve got the best job in the world and that goal was for him today.
“After defeats you want the world to swallow you up and think it’s the end of the world. Of course it still hurts but football is where I distract myself to get away from things like that.
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“My brother is the strongest kid I know so to see him fighting, why wouldn’t I fight on the pitch?”
The Blades certainly did that in a vast improvement on their recent home thumpings against Aston Villa, Brighton and Arsenal when they conceded 16 goals without reply.
Xander McBurnie is undergoing chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma (@Xander_McBurnie)After a goalless first half, United led when McBurnie’s superb left-wing cross was fired home by on-loan Villarreal striker Ben Brereton Diaz. Joao Palhinha headed Fulham level before Brereton Diaz took centre stage.
He teed up McBurnie to tap home and then bundled in his second from Gus Hamer’s cross to make it 3-1. Then came the game’s pivotal moment as McBurnie rifled home in the 82nd minute but a VAR check ruled it out with Vini Souza offside.
From there, Fulham took control as substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid fired home before Brazilian Rodrigo Muniz’s spectacular scissor kick levelled matters in the 93rd minute.
McBurnie celebrates after scoring the Blades' second but his later effort was ruled out by VAR (PA)McBurnie, 27, reflected: “The boys are disappointed, it feels like we should’ve won, but in second half I thought we were excellent. It just shows when we’re at it that we can compete with the best teams. It’s just that final killer instinct.”
McBurnie dovetailed superbly with Brereton Diaz and added: “Me and Breo have got a great understanding. We really enjoy playing together and we kind of know what each other wants to do. Straight away we clicked.”
It’s Liverpool away next up on Thursday for rock-bottom United and McBurnie said: “It’s what we live for and why we’re in the best league in the world.
“What is there to fear? There’s no pressure, so let’s go and enjoy playing at these stadiums and upset a few people. Everyone thinks we’re the worst team in Premier League history so let’s show that we’re not.”
Meanwhile, United midfielder Oliver Arblaster, 19, shone on his first home Premier League start to cap a fine week.
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He played 90 minutes and scored his first international goal for England Under-20s in their 3-1 win over the Czech Republic last Tuesday.
Blades boss Wilder said: “We’re delighted Oli got a cap but would like to think he might’ve been protected a bit more given everyone knew he was going to make his home debut, which is quite a big thing for his local club who he loves.”
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