Daniel Jebbison completed a remarkable comeback against his former club as Preston came from two goals down to beat Sheffield United 3-2 at Deepdale.
The on-loan Bournemouth forward was getting an earful from visiting fans but he silenced the noise with a powerfully headed 58th-minute winner.
Andre Brooks had put the Blades ahead with his first goal of the season after 10 minutes and Callum O'Hare's scintillating solo effort doubled the advantage six minutes later.
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Lewis Dobbin halved the arrears from just outside the box in first-half stoppage time before Japhet Tanganga put through his own net less than a minute into the second half to set up the big turnaround from Paul Heckingbottom's men, against the club he had two managerial spells with.
United were stunned but nearly equalised after 71 minutes as O'Hare ghosted in behind and guided substitute Louie Barry's cutback agonisingly wide from close range.
The defeat leaves the Blades hovering just one point above the relegation zone with the Deepdale reverse compounding a miserable start to the 2025/26 campaign.
The managers
Preston's Paul Heckingbotttom:
"He [Jebbison] will be pleased with that.
"He's had some stick when he doesn't head it but he'll be pleased with that. I think [more] will come [from him] but pre-season has set him back.
"The fact he wanted to come here [is big] because it's not an easy ride here, even if I do have a relationship with him."
Sheffield United's Chris Wilder:
"You always look at it from both angles. Paul will look at it from his angle and credit his players. I'll be critical of my players not putting the game to bed and being naive putting it in the big moment just before half-time.
"[We made] poor decisions in not putting them to bed when we were on top. I was delighted in how we set up, how we jumped, how we forced, and how we created, but you have to put teams to bed.
"When we did break it up, we did have opportunities to go three up and knowing what football's about through experience, smelling and using that experience, not being naive, it was so crucial, especially how we played in the first half, to come in 2-0 up."
