Chris Wilder admitted his Sheffield United team had got themselves out of a hole to claim three precious points at Bristol City.
Harrison Burrows fired the winner with almost the last kick of the game with a sweet left-footed shot after substitute Ryan One’s 86th-minute header from a corner had drawn the Blades level.
City had led from the 75th minute when Anis Mehmeti scored with a penalty after Sinclair Armstrong had been tripped by United goalkeeper Michael Cooper.
But they ended up losing their eight-match unbeaten record, as well as substitute defender Rob Dickie to a red card for pulling back Callum O’Hare.
Wilder said: “I didn’t think it was a smash-and-grab. It was a tight game against good opposition.
“After going one behind, we began to show all our character and we started to play in those last 20 minutes.
“Why it has taken that for us to play quickly with more drive, more intensity and more quality is beyond me.
“The players deserve an enormous amount of credit. It’s got nothing to do with myself or the coaching staff.
“They put themselves in a hole with their decision-making and attention to detail and they got themselves out of it.
“I was a definite penalty and it might have been a case of poking the bear a little bit to get us going.
“But I thought the players were extremely brave and we were rewarded with a memorable winner and memorable scenes for the supporters.”
Bristol City head coach Liam Manning said: “Until they scored it had been an excellent performance and one thing I can’t question is the attitude and commitment of the lads.
“We didn’t manage the game well enough in the closing stages. We have spoken in the dressing room about coping with the pressures that come with being successful and it’s something we need to work on.
“I felt we lost the game, rather than them winning it. I haven’t seen the red card incident again, but there are no complaints. Obviously it had an effect on conceding the winning goal because we were a defender light.
“Again, there was so much to be positive about. The move that led to the penalty was great and I felt we had got on top in the second half, so we deserved the lead.
“I thought (goalkeeper) Max O’Leary would catch the ball he punched for the corner that led to their equaliser, but we had to defend it better.
“Mark Sykes has a hamstring injury and losing him so early forced us to reshuffle. That didn’t help, but the lads gave everything and it was gutting not to take even a point.”
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