Sheffield United 1-3 Leeds United: Whites produce extraordinary late comeback to solidify their place at the top of the Championship

The shot was unstoppable and so, it seems, are the team. Joel Piroe’s left-foot drive didn’t just rip into Sheffield United‘s net, it probably tore the heart from Leeds‘ nearest pursuers.

What a way to end an absorbing game of football, a strike so clean that it was combination of beauty and brutality, like the definitive punch in a title bout that sends the beaten fighter spinning through the ropes. Nothing is going to stop Leeds going the distance.

Things started anxiously for them at Bramall Lane, as the locals created a furnace and Leeds’s goalkeeper Ilan Meslier looked riddled with nerves, but by the end, the visitors were singing how they will be ‘champions again’ as the scoreboard showed the result was 3-1 in their favour.

‘We have to stay humble,’ Daniel Farke, their charismatic manager, observed. ‘But this was great. They stepped up. This is one of our best, a really good night with three priceless points. Each one brings closer to where we want to be.’

There are always moments in a title-winning campaign that prove to be decisive and this victory, secured with a three-goal flurry in the final 20 unrelenting minutes, will definitely looked back upon with huge satisfaction if, as would appear likely, the job gets done.

Yes, the gap between them and Sheffield is only five points – Burnley are another two adrift in third spot – and, yes, the calendars have not yet turned to March but Leeds have the eye of the tiger after putting together a sequence of seven wins and a draw from their last eight challenging fixtures.

Ao Tanaka (centre) watches in delight as the ball crosses the line to put Leeds in front

Junior Firpo arrives in the box like a train to head in the away team’s equalising goal

This had claims to be the best of the lot. It could have been a calamity, quite easily. Without Farke on the touchline, who was serving a one-match ban, and without captain Ethan Ampadu, who is going to require cartilage surgery, the pacesetters were unrecognisable.

In the opening exchanges, as Leeds found themselves hemmed in, Meslier needed to two attempts to gather a long throw then flapped at a corner, as phalanx of red-and-white scavengers looked to pick up any scraps.

Sheffield United had obviously identified the weakness in Meslier, whose mistakes in fixtures against Portsmouth, Sunderland, Preston and Hull have cost Leeds eight points, and the tactic worked as they rattled him to the point he carried the ball over his own line in the 14th minute.

Meslier might have made a wonderful save initially, arching himself like a high jumper to tip Callum O’Hare’s header against the bar, but the follow up was a calamity, as he effectively pulled the ball apologetically over the line after Tyreese Campbell hit the post.

His reaction said everything. Hands on hips, alone, eyes gazing to the heavens for answers, Meslier could easily have capsized and the Bramall Lane crowd did their utmost to make him wobble and it would have been fascinating to see what would have happened if they had gone two in front.

That they didn’t was down to an outstanding challenge from Junior Firpo, whose elongated leg turned away a Campbell cross on the half hour, as dangers loomed at the back post. It was a huge moment but an even bigger one would come for the defender later in the game.

How costly the failure to convert proved. Leeds were never going to be as passive – Farke’s half-time home truths saw to that – as they had been and there was more structure to their play, more menace as they probed. There was also, crucially, patience and it paid off in the 71st minute.

Dan James tricked his way down the right and clipped an inviting ball into the area. Firpo arrived like a train, his header ripping into the net to spark bedlam. You could see and feel the momentum change, suddenly yellow shirts were rushing forward like an aggressive tide.

Illan Meslier looked shaky in the Leeds goal and will be relieved he didn’t cost his side

No one looked happy than the Frenchman as Leeds moved five points clear of their rivals

Sheffield United’s players are left wondering how they let this one get away from them

‘We never stopped believing,’ said Firpo. ‘We started a little bit slow and we concede the goal but we are a top fitness team, we have a lot of options on the bench and I think they changed the game when they came on. Against Sunderland it was the same, we keep going until the end.

‘In the last 20 or 25 minutes of the first half I think we were dominant and had our chances but we couldn’t score a goal. And then in the second half we started really strong and the goals just came out of nothing and I think we are really, really happy.’

So they should be. The second goal, the clincher, left Wilder aghast that it came from a corner with Ao Tanaka stealing in unmarked at the back post to head in from close range, with 90 minutes almost up, after Firpo had again caused mayhem by dashing forward for a set piece.

The best, however, was saved for last. Piroe was ushered forward by James and in a flash, he unleashed a drive that was gaining speed as he flashed past Michael Cooper, hitting the net so hard it bounced out the goal. It was glorious and it is sending them on their way to the promised land.

‘It was beautiful,’ said Piroe, who has now scored 15 times this season but none have been better.

Wilder, for his part, was wonderfully honest. He hated saying that he was ‘a good loser’ but knew, at the juncture, the final outcome was correct.

‘They produced a really, really top performance,’ said Wilder. ‘We deservedly got ourselves in front but they are top of the table for a reason. We thought we might have to suffer a bit but they chucked people forward and it showed what they needed to do to get into the game.

‘There are no hard luck stories. It was tight game and the momentum swung their way. You have to take this on the chin and be humble. I’m not going to beat the players up. The challenge is now to overcome disappoint. We’ve done it before and we will do it again.’