Ian Harte fired Leeds back to the top of the Premiership with a penalty in the
fourth minute of stoppage time at Pride Park.
Left-back Harte struck from the spot after Horacio Carbonari had been harshly
penalised for tripping Harry Kewell.
The Australian ghosted past Carbonari but the Argentinian appeared to be
shepherding the winger towards the byline.
If there was any contact it was minimal but Kewell collapsed in a heap and
referee Paul Alcock immediately pointed to the spot before booking Spencer Prior
for disputing his decision.
Harte kept his nerve to crash the kick straight into the middle of the goal as
Mart Poom dived to his left.
It means Leeds are two points ahead of Manchester United after both sides won
this weekend and it leaves them in good shape going into Thursday's UEFA Cup
third round second leg with Spartak Moscow.
The Yorkshire club have now relied on stoppage-time goals to win their last
two league matches, with Michael Bridges' late strike helping them beat
Southampton 1-0 a week ago.
Before Harte struck, Kewell had gone closest to giving Leeds victory as his
58th-minute close-range drive hit the top of Poom's bar after Lee Bowyer's shot
had been deflected into his path by Seth Johnson.
The angle was tight but the winger was no more than eight yards out and he may
feel he should have at least hit the target, especially as Poom would have
struggled to save it.
But just as Derby - who have now lost seven of their nine home league games
this season - looked set to end a run of three straight defeats, Harte was given
the chance to grab his sixth goal of the season - an opportunity he happily
accepted.
Alan Smith had had the ball in the net four minutes from time but his 'goal'
was ruled out because the striker had made his challenge as Poom tried to bowl
the ball out to Tony Dorigo.
It was a controversial decision which clearly upset Smith and less than 60
seconds later he was booked by Alcock for dissent after disagreeing with an
offside decision.
Bridges also went close twice in quick succession in the first half, with Poom
parrying his first shot before Elliott headed his follow-up effort over.
Georgi Kinkladze, making his first start for Derby after coming off the bench
for half an hour at Arsenal last Sunday, was by far Derby's best player before
he was replaced by Dorigo on 75 minutes.
Full of twists and turns, feints and flicks, he showed none of the skills he
possessed during his three years at Manchester City have deserted him.
He had Derby's best chance on 51 minutes, exchanging passes with Dean
Sturridge before dumping Jonathon Woodgate on his backside with a shimmy and
seeing Nigel Martyn get a foot to his shot.
It was from Kinkladze's cross that Elliott had a powerful eight-yard header
tipped over by Martyn and he fully deserved the rapturous reception he received
from Rams fans grateful to have the midfielder on board at Pride Park.
Derby manager Jim Smith has warned it will take several games for Kinkladze,
who is on loan to County until the end of the season, to be at his best after
doing little for five months except warm the Ajax bench.
But it says much about his talent, and also that of his new team-mates, that
he was head and shoulders above anything else the Rams had to offer going
forward.
As was the case at Manchester City, he has been inserted into a side with
players who cannot hold a candle to him in terms of ability.
The piece of trickery which bewildered Woodgate, supposedly one of England's
best young players, was a delight to behold.
He then went on to twice fool Eirik Bakke, who was booked after 11 minutes for
pulling back the Georgian, before seeing his shot blocked by a posse of
back-pedalling Leeds defenders.
Ironically it was from that Kinkladze effort that the visitors
counter-attacked and Kewell hit the woodwork as the Yorkshiremen swept down the
other end of the pitch.
But despite the 26-year-old's invention, the visitors were still the better
team by some distance and Harte's goal - despite the suspicious circumstances in
which it came - was due reward for the control they exerted over the Rams.
Derby might have expected Leeds to be a little weary after energy-sapping
return flights to Russia and Bulgaria in the past 10 days.
Indeed, they lost to Wimbledon last month less than 72 hours after coming back
from their UEFA Cup second-round tie with Lokomotiv Moscow and it took a
stoppage-time goal to beat Southampton last Sunday following the Spartak pitch
debacle.
But if the visitors were tired they showed few signs of it as they bossed
proceedings and showed why they are among the title favourites.
Along with Bridges' two efforts in quick succession, Stephen McPhail, Lee
Bowyer, Bakke and Darren Huckerby all had opportunities to send Leeds in at
half-time in front.
But they never lost hope of forcing a winner and Carbonari's alleged
indiscretion gave Harte a chance he was never going to waste.
Teams
Derby: Poom, Laursen (Prior 64), Carbonari, Elliott, Delap,
Burley, Powell, Kinkladze (Dorigo 75), Johnson, Sturridge,Burton (Christie 81).
Subs Not Used: Hoult, Nimni.
Booked: Johnson, Laursen, Prior.
Leeds: Martyn, Kelly, Radebe, Woodgate, Harte, Bakke,
McPhail (Jones 83), Bowyer, Kewell, Bridges,Huckerby (Smith 77).
Subs Not Used: Robinson, Mills, Duberry.
Booked: Bakke, Kelly, Smith.
Goals: Harte 90 pen.
Att: 29,455
Ref: P Alcock (Halstead).
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