When Leeds were looking for a hero, their captain Pascal Struijk showed leadership to set his side on the way to inflicting a first defeat of the Championship season on Sheffield United.

After many of his attack-minded colleagues had failed to produce a finish Struijk ignited a tense affair, thrashing home a corner before Mateo Joseph added another late on to send Leeds second in the table. The Dutch defender had kept Sheffield United quiet all night but was the man to create the noise in Yorkshire before Joseph capped off the night.

There was a minute’s silence that turned into applause before kick-off in memory of the former Sheffield United defender George Baldock who died aged 31 in Greece last week. A banner was hung in the away end and his name sang by the supporters to commemorate the full-back who played 219 times for the Blades over seven years at Bramall Lane.

The opening exchanges were intense in a match played at a high tempo, not that should have ­surprised anyone considering the confidence in the two squads. Between them they had lost once in 18 league matches this season and the prospect of ­beating Yorkshire and promotion rivals in front of a raucous Elland Road crowd increased the stakes.

Sheffield United settled quicker into the match as Kieffer Moore and Callum O’Hare worked together in the final third in a classic big man, little man partnership but without creating a meaningful chance.

The visitors had not conceded in their previous six matches and Leeds were quickly understanding why. On paper they have four of the most frightening attacking players in the league but they were struggling to find a path through Sheffield United’s back five despite dominating possession and they failed to produce a ­single shot in the opening 24 minutes until Largie Ramazani hit the outside of the post from a tight angle.

It sparked the Leeds front four into life and moments later, Ramazani had another chance after neat interplay with Brenden Aaronson allowed him to shoot from 25 yards. With the ball hurtling towards the net, Michael Cooper dived to his left to stop it finding the corner. It was a fine save but the Leeds fans’ volume increased further.

Leeds had all the momentum and Sheffield United were doing their best to slow things down to get a foothold in the game. Despite their hard work the Blades almost gifted Aaronson the opener when Cooper’s poor ­clearance went straight to the American on the edge of the box but Vinícius Souza was quick to close him down and deflect the shot wide.

The story did not change much after the break as Leeds continued to control the ball in the early stages of the second half. They were able to get a number of crosses into the box and if Aaronson was more composed, he should have opened the scoring but instead failed to control a shot from 12 yards, sending it wildly over.

Joël Piroe was the next to test the reactions of the fans behind the Sheffield United goal with a rushed shot from 30 yards out. Daniel Farke needed someone with a cooler head in the final third to turn chances into a goal against a team that surpassed 11 hours without conceding during the match.

Chris Wilder was the first to act, eager to add impetus to a team that had spent a long time defending. Alfie Gilchrist, Tyrese Campbell and Sydie Peck were sent on at the hour mark to re-energise his toiling team. It had an immediate effect as the Blades immediately looked more dangerous but without reward.

Eventually Leeds found a clinical finish, although it surprisingly came from their captain Struijk who made a swift move at the front post to meet a Joe Rothwell corner and direct the ball into the top corner from six yards and lift the roof off Elland Road.

For all the talk of how good the Sheffield United defence has been in recent weeks, their forward line offered little. They failed to get a shot on target in the 90 minutes on a quiet night for Illan Meslier, who might have been worried after his grave error gifted Sunderland a last-minute equaliser a fortnight ago.

The result was not looking uncertain but Joseph was another to keep his cool. He went through one-on-one after a smart pass from Piroe and beat Cooper.