Callum O'Dowda chipped in with a timely goal as a dazzling first-half display helped Cardiff beat Middlesbrough 3-2 at the Riverside in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday night.
Stephen Kenny names his Republic of Ireland squad on Thursday ahead of the UEFA Nations League games against Scotland and Armenia - and O'Dowda did his chances of making the squad no harm with a good display.
O'Dowda, Mark Harris and Perry Ng put the visitors into a three-goal lead at half-time and though Boro boss Chris Wilder saw Duncan Watmore and Rodrigo Muniz strike in quick succession on the turnaround, they could not force a third.
Callum Robinson also shone for Cardiff who he joined from West Brom at the start of the month.
Absolute 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘂𝗺. The winner! 🥷 pic.twitter.com/jte0SlEtzP
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) September 13, 2022
League leaders Sheffield United snatched victory in the dying seconds at Swansea after some masterful substitutions by boss Paul Heckingbottom.
The clash looked destined to end goalless but two of the players thrown on by the Blades manager combined in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to earn a 1-0 win in Wales.
Former Swansea loanee Rhian Brewster showed great speed and pace to brush past Kyle Naughton before he teed up fellow substitute Reda Khadra, who slotted home to spark big celebrations in the away end and ensure United will remain at the summit after Wednesday's fixtures.
Michael Obafemi was again left out of the Swansea squad. In the build-up to the game manager Russell Martin had said Obafemi was "not being in the right frame of mind" as a result of the transfer deadline day "turbulence" where Obafemi was rumoured to be moving to Burnley. The move ultimately broke down.
Preston and Burnley could not be separated in their Lancashire derby with the Deepdale encounter ending in a 1-1 draw.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis put Vincent Kompany's visitors ahead after only 10 minutes but Jordan Storey hit back five minutes later and that was how it finished.
Troy Parrott, Greg Cunningham and Robbie Brady all started for Preston, while Josh Cullen was in the middle of the park for Burnley.
Blackburn are up to third after an impressive 2-0 victory over Watford.
Ryan Hedges grabbed his first goal for Rovers when he tapped home Tyrhys Dolan's cross in the 38th minute and Dominic Hyam made the points safe with a late second.
The Hornets were left frustrated by the decision to rule out Christian Kabasele's second-half effort for offside, which would have made the score 1-1.
Huddersfield's poor start to life under new boss Danny Schofield continued after they suffered a 2-1 loss at home to Wigan following Callum Lang's 82nd-minute goal, which was made by James McClean.
Tom Lees equalised for the hosts with 14 minutes left after Ireland striker Will Keane had opened the scoring with a first-half penalty but Lang had the last laugh to make it six defeats out of eight for last season's beaten play-off finalists.
Lewis Baker's brace for Stoke earned new manager Alex Neil a first victory with a 3-0 win at Hull.
Former Chelsea youngster Baker grabbed a goal in each half, with an effort by Ben Wilmot sandwiched in between, to get Neil off the mark at the third time of asking having controversially left Sunderland last month to join divisional rivals City.
