Rhian Brewster's goal gave Sheffield United a derby victory over Sheffield Wednesday and put the Blades level on points with Championship leaders Leeds.

It also clinched United's first league double over their city rivals since 2005-06 - and dented the Owls' play-off hopes.

The game was nervy, with both sides needing the points to boost their promotion bids.

United keeper Michael Cooper denied Michael Smith in the first half and a vital Harrison Burrows block stopped Josh Windass from giving Wednesday the lead in the second.

Defeat leaves Wednesday six points off the top six with eight games to play, after they had racked up consecutive away wins to reignite their play-off chances.

Poor form at Hillsborough has haunted Wednesday all season - they have the second-worst record on their own turf in the division - while the Blades have been the best away side in the competition, this being their sixth consecutive away win.

Wednesday carved out the better chances in a tight and occasionally edgy derby, but United are grinding out results - the win means they have lost just once in their past nine league games.

Danny Rohl's side began the stronger and when Ryo Hatsuse whipped a cross onto the head of Smith, Cooper brilliantly pushed his header over the bar.

With some bad blood lingering from United's win in the Bramall Lane derby in November, the game was tetchy, with six yellow cards, and tempers flared into a pushing match between players after Callum Paterson kicked the ball at Ben Brereton Diaz as the United striker lay prone following a foul by Barry Bannan.

Tyrese Campbell was United's biggest danger, dragging one attempt across the face of goal and then being denied by keeper James Beadle's sharp dash off his line after Gustavo Hamer's slick pass threatened to free the visitors' top scorer.

Campbell was also inches away from a Burrows drilled cross-cum-shot and in the second half a Smith back=heel teed up Windass, only for Burrows to hurl himself in the way of his goal-bound shot.

Campbell's next involvement was decisive, however, as he raced onto a pass from Sydie Peck and ghosted past Michael Ihiekwe. His cross deflected kindly into the path of Brewster, who could not miss and duly chalked up his third goal of the season.

Wednesday tried to rally but their only real chance went begging when Marvin Johnson's volley was parried by Cooper straight to Svante Ingelsson. The substitute had to make instinctive contact as the ball flew at him, and he could only send it high over the bar.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"When you look at the second half and see the opponents had just one touch in our box - the goal - and that we created chances, more possession and set-pieces, and more shots on target, we were ahead of them and deserved a point.

"At the end it looks like a mirror of our home performances - we dominated phases of the game and created chances, but there is still one moment where the opponents scored.

"You saw how competitive we are and I couldn't see a difference between second position (United) and our position in the table.

"I can't complain. It was an intensive week and we took six points from nine, which is not so bad, but for me the biggest wish was to give our fans a good result and at the end we couldn't."

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"It feels good. I talked to the players before (about) how we were ridiculed for being in League One, a pub league and all that, since I took over in 2016. We managed to close the gap.

"I wanted to adjust the narrative that we weren't a pub league side and all of a sudden it changes and now we're a rival. It changes, we're now 31 points above them.

"The supporters are the supporters, fabulous from both sets, the noise here was fabulous. I knew what the game was going to be like.

"To do the double over our rivals was always going to be a good day. We had the welcoming committee in the car park. It was the game that we thought it would be.

"In time it will swing back in Sheffield Wednesday's favour because that's what's happened in the past 125 years. They've been on top, then us, then them, and us.

"There's still work to be done. There's a promotion on the horizon. It's going to be an absolutely titanic tussle."

On goalscorer Rhian Brewster: "He grabbed his opportunity. He came during a difficult period and he's had massive injuries. He's every example of boys giving it their all in front of the Kop End to give us a double.

"Losing was never in my mind. All I talked about was win, win, win."