Gustavo Hamer made the points safe for the away side with a wonderful finish from range
Relegated Sheffield United got off to a winning start back in the Championship with a comfortable victory at Preston.
The Blades, who finished a distant bottom of the Premier League last season, got off to the perfect start when Ollie Arblaster's shot from the edge of the area took a huge deflection to leave Freddie Woodman in the home goal with no chance.
Woodman then gifted the away side their second after the break when Gustavo Hamer easily cut out his attempted throw forward and the former Coventry man chipped a super shot over the keeper and into the open goal from 30 yards.
United's win was their first since 10 February and gave them a first clean sheet in a league match in 2024.
They won just three times and conceded a league record 104 goals on their way to picking up a paltry 16 points in a wretched campaign in 2023-24 but, from this showing, there appears to be no obvious hangover.
An opening-day win moves them into positive points after they started the season on minus two because of defaulting on payments to other clubs during the 2022-23 season.
Ryan Lowe's Preston ended last season with a club-record five straight defeats without scoring and this opening-day reverse extends that run.
Battered Blades look to bounce back
Blades boss Chris Wilder gave debuts to four of his six summer signings from the start but it was a homegrown player who put them in front after 12 minutes as Arblaster, 20, scored his first goal for the club with the aid of a big deflection.
The home side were growing into the contest when they handed their guests the crucial second goal.
Woodman, attempting to start a quick attack from the back, saw his throw intercepted by Hamer and the talented midfielder showed his class to lob the bouncing ball in from range.
That was more than enough for the away side against an opposition who were once again desperately lacking a cutting edge.
United will hope to build on this opening-day win to make a strong start to life back in the EFL and put last season's dismal relegation behind them.
They will face tougher tests than this as they look to bounce straight back up.
They host Wrexham in the League Cup on Tuesday, while Preston will hope to get their season going when they host Championship rivals Sunderland in the same competition on the same night.
Post-match reaction
Preston manager Ryan Lowe:
“(The mistake) sucks the life out of you, the players, the staff. But there’s no blame culture on Freddie. He’s been fantastic for us.
“He’s pushed himself to get back for this game after a slight niggle. When keepers make mistakes you get punished like that.
“We’ve lost to an ex-Premier League team that’s come down. Did we give them a run for their money? Yes we did.
"Was it good enough at the top end to potentially get more chances? No, but we know that and we need to be better at the other end with our decision making, but it’s constructive criticism.”
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder:
"We showed we can play a different way. We controlled the tempo and pace of the game. I thought the two in midfield were incredible and dominated that area of the pitch.
“I keep saying it’s a fresh beginning. Not being disrespectful, that includes my period (last season) as well. This is a new team with the biggest amount of changes of any club in the Championship this season.
“We still have work to do and there is a hell of a long way to go and a hell of a lot of work to do.
“We will have difficult days but we have to enjoy days like this as well because of the incredible nature of the Premier League and what that was all about last year.”
