Wednesday November 28th

Leeds United 0-2 Chelsea

Worthington Cup Round 4

Leeds 0 Chelsea 2

By Ian Parkes, PA Sport

 

Two-goal Eidur Gudjohnsen fired Chelsea into the fifth round of the Worthington Cup to ease the pressure on manager Claudio Ranieri and leave Leeds boss David O'Leary to reflect on another trophy to slip through his grasp.

 

Gudjohnsen scored in the 59th and 80th minutes to take his tally to seven for the season and end Leeds' proud 19-game unbeaten record at Elland Road.

 

Ranieri had come under fire following his side's goalless bore draw with Blackburn at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, at the end of which Chelsea's stars were booed off the pitch.

 

It was rumoured Ranieri, who chose not to speak to the media in the aftermath, then offered his resignation, a claim which has been stringently denied by Blues managing director Colin Hutchinson.

 

Ranieri is almost certain to be a relieved man after this victory, although O'Leary will be counting the cost as he lost Dominic Matteo, Stephen McPhail and Eirik Bakke to injury.

 

Leeds fans demanded silverware with O'Leary poised to take his transfer spending beyond the £90million barrier but there will be no March trip to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium for the Worthington Cup final.

 

The arrival of Robbie Fowler seemingly cannot come quick enough for Leeds for whom results and goals have dried up in recent weeks, coinciding with the departure of Mark Viduka on World Cup duty during what has so far been the difficult November O'Leary had predicted.

 

There had been an air of expectancy around Elland Road prior to kick off with the news of Fowler's impending £11million arrival from Liverpool on Thursday.

 

Having already agreed personal terms of around £35,000-per-week on a deal which will take him up to the summer of 2006, and having completed the first part of a stringent medical, the 26-year-old is poised to join Leeds' revolution.

 

Fowler, though, did not to watch his potential new team-mates from the Elland Road stands, instead having returned home to Liverpool to tie up a few loose ends.

 

It was easy to see why a player with 171 goals in his 330 Liverpool appearances is needed as Leeds struggled to muster any kind of chance - other than deadball specials from Ian Harte - during a performance which must rank as their worst of the season.

 

There has never been any love lost between Leeds and Chelsea, with the previous 11 meetings producing 71 yellow cards and five red, including that of O'Leary during the goalless Elland Road draw five weeks ago after remonstrating with referee Paul Durkin in the tunnel.

 

O'Leary had been left fuming with Durkin for failing to send off Graeme Le Saux for a two-footed lunge on Danny Mills, the Chelsea skipper escaping with a mere caution.

 

On this occasion it was more like a teddy bear's picnic with both sides on their best behaviour in front of Jeff Winter, who had sent off Danny Mills and Lee Bowyer in Leeds' 2-1 win at Arsenal in August.

 

Winter, though, missed the most significant moment of an uninspiring first half as Robbie Keane's reputation again seemingly preceded him as the Irishman should have had a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

 

In receiving a through ball from Mills, Keane then darted into the area, only to be brought down by the trailing leg of Chelsea's French defender William Gallas.

 

But Winter, from more than 30 yards away, waved away all appeals to the fury of the Republic of Ireland international, who escaped being booked for diving for what would have been the third time this season.

 

Similar incidents at Sunderland and Charlton had led to Keane being cautioned, even though he was wrongly penalised on both occasions, with the impish forward failing to gain what should have been his just rewards.

 

Only Sam Dalla Bona was booked, and that for dissent, during an opening 45 minutes in which neither Carlo Cudicini nor Nigel Martyn were seriously tested.

 

The best of the chances fell the way of Jason Wilcox, the left winger connecting with a sweet left-foot half-volley which led to Cudicini fisting the ball away to his right.

 

In the second half, after Cudicini had beaten away a Harte free-kick, Gudjohnsen struck a first-time right-foot shot in off Martyn's left-hand post at a point when Matteo was standing on the sidelines injured.

 

The Scot was substituted and Bakke soon followed and with replacement McPhail, just back from a long-term Achilles injury, lying in agony 10 yards outside the Chelsea area, the Blues broke with devastating effect and Gudjohnsen struck an excellent 15-yard drive to seal victory.

 

Teams

 

Leeds: Martyn, Mills, Ferdinand, Matteo (Duberry 59), Harte, Bakke (McPhail 63), Batty, Dacourt, Wilcox (Kelly 77), Keane, Smith.

 

Subs Not Used: Robinson.

 

Chelsea: Cudicini, Melchiot, Gallas, Terry, Babayaro, Jokanovic, Dalla Bona, Lampard, Le Saux (Zenden 86), Hasselbaink (Forssell 90), Gudjohnsen (Zola 89).

 

Subs Not Used: de Goey, Stanic.

 

Booked: Dalla Bona, Le Saux.

 

Goals: Gudjohnsen 59, 80.

 

Att: 33,841

 

Ref: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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