Sheffield United took a step closer to securing their place in the Championship play-offs after coming from behind to beat QPR 3-1.
If Middlesbrough, Blackburn and Millwall all fail win their respective matches on Saturday afternoon, Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades will be assured of a top-six finish.
Charlie Austin – who appeared to wave goodbye to the QPR fans as he left the pitch in the second half – opened the scoring with a deft header, but Iliman Ndiaye, Jack Robinson and Conor Hourihane hit back for the Blades after the break to seal a more than welcome first away win in seven attempts.
Heckingbottom’s Blades inch closer to a top-six berth
Knowing a win would move them ever closer to cementing a play-off spot, Sheffield United started on the front foot in west London. The only thing was, though they continually penned Rangers back into their own half, there was no end product to match.
Enda Stevens saw a fierce shot blocked, Morgan Gibbs-White fired straight at goalkeeper Murphy Mahoney and Ndiaye blazed well over the bar after a fast Blades break, but there was little to get the vocal travelling fans off their feet, in terms of chances, at least.
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With just over half an hour gone, QPR took the lead. Albert Adomah made good progress on the right flank, turned Stevens inside and out and then floated a beautiful cross into the box that Austin – who seemed to hang in the air for a lifetime – headed home after holding off Chris Basham.
The intensity from the visitors increased significantly after the break. Gibbs-White had a shot cleared off the line and then saw a looping header come back off the post, and, in between the two openings, Mahoney made a stunning stop to push Robinson’s header round the post.
But the half was barely 10 minutes old when the equaliser their pressure warranted arrived, as Ndiaye found himself in space to fire the ball home from close range after a shot had been charged down in the wake of a dangerous Oliver Norwood corner.
The turnaround was complete just over 15 minutes from time. Norwood’s free-kick was headed across the box by Basham to Robinson, whose own powerful header left Mahoney with no chance and sealed three priceless points for the Blades.
Man of the match – Oliver Norwood
What the managers said…
QPR’s Mark Warburton
Sheffield United’s Paul Heckingbottom
What’s next?
At 12.30pm on the final day of the season, Saturday May 7, QPR travel to the Swansea.com Stadium to take on Swansea, while Sheffield United host Fulham at Bramall Lane.