The first-half strike by Harrison Burrows was the defender's first since joining from Peterborough United in the summer
Substitute Tyrese Campbell wrapped up a clinical Sheffield United victory as they kept a ninth clean sheet in 13 league games in a dominant display against Blackburn Rovers.
Harrison Burrows blasted the Blades ahead with his first goal for the club before the break and Campbell made it 2-0 with a close-range strike on 64 minutes to take the visitors up to second before the 15:00 GMT kick-offs.
Rovers failed to muster a single attempt on target as they slipped to a first Championship home defeat of the season.
Ryan Hedges and Joe Rankin-Costello both failed to make a good connection with excellent chances, but Blackburn rarely looked like breaching a typically miserly Sheffield United defence, who have only conceded six league goals all season.
But the visitors were always the more threatening in front of goal, with Kieffer Moore, Gustavo Hamer and Burrows all going close to adding to the goal tally in the closing stages.
Rovers have now lost four of their past six matches after a promising start and have not scored in the last three.
Ending that poor run against a mightily impressive United side was always a big ask from the moment Burrows opened the scoring on 16 minutes following some indecisive defending.
Burrows' beautifully struck angled effort from the left was the only attempt on target in the first half, but Rovers still could - and probably should - have been level at the break.
Tyrhys Dolan did well on the right flank, spinning and getting a cross towards the back post, but a slight deflection caused Hedges to hesitate and he failed to make any sort of decent connection with his right foot.
But the visitors were far more impressive at both ends of the pitch.
Chris Wilder's side looked solid and disciplined throughout and were a constant danger in attack, with Jesurun Rak-Sakyi's pace and trickery posing all sorts of problems on the right and Moore's presence, nous and awareness providing a brilliant focal point up front.
Moore's powerful header brought a sensational save from Aynsley Pears after the restart and although Rankin-Costello could easily have levelled when he mis-timed his leap from a teasing Todd Cantwell cross, the Blades controlled the second half.
Moore also saw a header well cleared near the goalline by the backtracking Dominic Hyam, before Moore cleverly teed up Campbell who crashed the ball home to double the lead after keeper Pears saved his initial shot.
The Blades spurned numerous chances to add to their advantage, while Rovers were fortunate not to have Makhtar Gueye sent off for leading with his arm in an aerial challenge on Vini Souza.
Blackburn Rovers boss John Eustace:
"We came up against a real top team with good individuals and it's disappointing.
"I thought first half we held our own, got some really good opportunities without making the most in the final third. When they scored the second goal, we kind of lost belief, which was disappointing.
"The first half, we competed very well. We won the ball back a lot and had a lot of opportunities on that turnover. We just lacked that bit of quality in the final third. We're getting into good opportunities without being clinical.
“Second half, I thought we started a little bit slow but then we did have a couple of opportunities. We got going and then obviously they went and scored. We tried to change a few things around and unfortunately it didn't work."
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder:
"We should have kept it a little bit more or made better decisions with the ball in the first half.
"The game wasn't done. You've got to fight for everything, especially against a team that have won five out of six at home.
"They're going to come for you but I thought we really quietened that noise by our dominant second-half performance.
"They've had one header, a shot that went wide from distance but, apart from that, I can't remember anything else. That's the way the game goes. They are searching to get back into it, we have quality on the counter-attack."
