Preston North End 3-2 Sheffield United: Hecky’s Preston Stun Wilder’s Blades in Second Half Comeback | OneFootball

Sheffield United’s three-game week ended in a 3-2 defeat against Preston North End on Friday night at Deepdale.

The Blades got the scoring underway through Andre Brooks, who had all the time in the world to pick his spot when he went one-vs-one with the goalkeeper. Six minutes later, Callum O’Hare doubled their advantage when he drove into the box, chopped onto his left foot and then delivered a clinical low finish. With five minutes of added time, Preston found a lifeline when Lewis Dobbin’s effort from the edge of the box found the bottom right corner.

United conjured up a three goal comeback victory in midweek at Blackburn Rovers. But they were on the receiving end of one at Deepdale.

Just seconds into the second half, Preston won a free-kick on the halfway line and the launch into the box was not dealt with and resulted in Japhet Tanganga kneeing it over Michael Cooper and into the top corner. 12 minutes later the comeback was complete. Daniel Jebbison ghosted into the near post area completely unmarked as he met a floated cross perfectly to score against his former club.

Lineups

Preston: Iversen, Vukcevic (Small 63), Whiteman, Armstrong, Jebbison (Smith 78), Storey, Hughes, Dobbin (Thordarson 78), Gibson (Lindsay 39), Devine (Osmajic 78), Offiah.

Unused: Walton, Frokjaer, Carroll.

Blades: Cooper, Tanganga, O’Hare, Brooks (Barry 63), Burrows, Mee, Ogbene (Ings 63), Campbell (Cannon 81), McGuinness (Shackleton 78), Peck, Riedewald (Soumare 63).

Unused: A. Davies, McCallum, Bindon, Matos.

First Half

PRESTON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 24: Andre Brooks of Sheffield United scores his team’s first goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Preston North End and Sheffield United at Deepdale Stadium on October 24, 2025 in Preston, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

The Blades made the perfect start when Andre Brooks opened the scoring 10 minutes into the first half. The academy graduate raced onto a clever pass from Tyrese Campbell, held his composure in a one-on-one with Daniel Iversen, and calmly slotted home for his first goal of the season.

Moments later, United’s confidence was flowing. Callum O’Hare doubled the advantage after some neat link-up play on the edge of the box, cutting inside onto his left foot before driving a precise low finish beyond Iversen to make it 2-0.

Preston, who had struggled for rhythm and lost Lewis Gibson to injury, found a much-needed lifeline in first-half stoppage time. Lewis Dobbin collected a layoff from Daniel Jebbison and curled a fine effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the area to halve the deficit heading into the break.

Second Half

The goal before half-time lifted the hosts, and just seconds into the second half, they were level. A floated free-kick from the halfway line caused chaos in the United box, and as the ball was headed down, it struck Japhet Tanganga and looped over Michael Cooper into the net for 2-2.

From there, momentum was all with Preston. In the 57th minute, the comeback was complete. Former Blade Daniel Jebbison ghosted into the near-post area unmarked to meet Andrija Vukcevic’s perfectly weighted cross, powering a header beyond Cooper to make it 3-2 and seal the turnaround.

United boss Chris Wilder reacted with a triple substitution, Djibril Soumare, Danny Ings, and Louie Barry replacing Jairo Riedewald, Chiedozie Ogbene, and Brooks in a bid to wrestle back control.

A perfect Burrows corner was headed down by Tanganga at the back post but Soumare blazed over from close range, wasting a golden opportunity to equalise.

Preston could have wrapped it up when Michael Smith missed a gilt-edged chance from six yards, while at the other end, Tom Cannon struck the side-netting after a surging Burrows run caused panic in the home box. Burrows should’ve had a goal to his name after Soumare found him at the back post with a wonderful lofted pass, but the left-back lost his footing as he was about to head the ball goalwards.

This defeat to Preston North End will serve as a wake-up call to Sheffield United because despite coming to Deepdale with back-to-back wins, defensive lapses are still there for all to see.