Sheffield United moved to within three points of Sky Bet Championship leaders Leeds following a 2-1 win at QPR.
Ben Brereton Diaz’s early goal and Tyrese Campbell’s thumping second-half strike put Chris Wilder’s side two up.
Michael Frey gave the hosts hope with a 72nd-minute penalty but the Blades held on to secure a fifth consecutive away victory.
It was the ideal response to Monday’s 3-1 home defeat by Leeds, whose five-game winning league run ended when they drew 1-1 with West Brom earlier on Saturday.
Second-placed United are now five points clear of Burnley in third, although the Clarets have a game in hand.
The result also means the Blades have now won on their past two trips to London, having lost their previous eight matches in the capital.
They went ahead after 10 minutes through Brereton Diaz’s third goal since rejoining the club on loan – and he was helped by some woeful Rangers defending.
After on-loan Tottenham youngster Yang Min-hyeok was dispossessed by Gus Hamer, Vini Souza sent in a cross from the left towards Brereton Diaz, who drifted between defenders Jimmy Dunne and Kenneth Paal to head in from close range.
QPR, who had started well, responded with a spell of sustained pressure.
After Paal’s free-kick was cleared as far as Jonathan Varane, the French midfielder shot wide, with Frey just unable to get a touch which might have diverted the ball towards goal.
As Rangers continued to probe, Yang had an effort well saved by goalkeeper Michael Cooper and also volleyed wide, Frey volleyed just over and Cooper was called into action again to keep out a strike from Ilias Chair and claw away Paal’s inswinging corner.
QPR then thought they had levelled when Frey netted after Dunne had teed him up following Chair’s ball in from the left but the striker had strayed offside and the goal was rightly disallowed.
The start of the second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with QPR making a lively start before conceding – and Campbell’s 54th-minute goal was a beauty.
Campbell laid the ball off to Brereton Diaz on the right and, after collecting his strike partner’s return pass, turned and fired an unstoppable left-footed shot into the far corner of the net from near the edge of the penalty area.
QPR came back from two down to draw when these teams met at Bramall Lane in August.
They threatened to do the same again, with Frey scoring from the spot after Harrison Burrows was adjudged to have handled Paul Smyth’s cross in the box, but this time they were unable to find a late equaliser.
The managers
QPR’s Marti Cifuentes:
“We created enough chances to score more but the reality of football is that it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality.
“They got a really good second goal. Perhaps for both goals we could have done better but I felt the team performed at a high level and it’s just a pity we didn’t get more from it.
“We played against a quality side that had two or three moments in the game and were able to win the game because of them.
“I feel very proud of my players because I felt we were dominant for many moments of the game. We really pushed a team that are performing at a really high level. I felt my players did really well.
“For many minutes of the game I felt we really pushed them.
“We are here to win games and will always feel disappointed to lose but probably in a couple of days I will look back and feel this is a team myself and the fans can feel proud of.”
Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder:
“It was the perfect response after a disappointing evening on Monday.
“I’m delighted with the reaction from Monday night. We were all pretty down on Tuesday. To play as well as we did and not get anything from the game was quite difficult to take.
“But we talked about it, it can’t define our season, and our reaction to the disappointment has been absolutely first class. We put everything into this game.
“They (the players) lifted me this week because we were really down on Monday night and Tuesday. The attitude of the group when we came into work was incredibly positive.
“There’s times I have to lift the players but certainly the players and their approach – they’ve done outstandingly well.
“We got tested right the way through the game, which we knew we would be. Our away record has been earned through days like today.
“I’ve got a real good group of players that are desperately trying to win games and we showed the reason that our away record is rock solid.
“We had to see it out and do what we needed to do to get the three points. Our attitude towards winning games is there for all to see.
“This is the business end of the season where you roll yourselves up.”
