Sheffield United show perfect response to Leeds United setback with big three points at QPR
Sheffield United show perfect response to Leeds United setback with big three points at QPR
Sheffield United showed the “perfect response” to Monday evening’s defeat to Leeds United with a big three points at QPR this afternoon. Goals in either half from Ben Brereton Diaz and Tyrese Campbell saw the Blades cut Leeds’ lead at the top of the table to three points after they could only draw at home to West Brom earlier in the day.
More pleasing was United’s show of mentality to see out the 2-1 victory after Michael Frey halved the deficit with around 25 minutes still to go, after Harrison Burrows was harshly penalised for handball after a cross hit his arm from close-range.
But United’s defence stood firm, with goalkeeper Michael Cooper in excellent form, as United took another step towards hopefully playing Premier League football next season with their fifth away win on the spin.
“A perfect response from a difficult evening on Monday night,” said boss Chris Wilder afterwards. “We got tested right the way through, as we knew we would, because they’re a good team with an outstanding home record. That’s not been given, they’ve had to do a lot of things right and our away record has been earned through days like today.
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“It was a proper tight game, you can pick the bones out of it in bits and pieces. We turned the ball over cheaply and that allowed them to counter on us with their positive players at the top of the pitch. But I’ve got a real good group who are desperately trying to win games for us and showed the reason why our away form has been rock-solid.
“We got up in the game, they missed a couple of chances and the second half I thought was pretty quiet. We did what we had to do to get that big three points.”
Victory took United to 73 points in the table - they have won 75 this term, one fewer than Leeds, with their two-point deduction factored in - and five clear of third-placed Burnley, who were in FA Cup action at Preston North End today and have the chance to respond when they travel to Cardiff City on Tuesday evening.