Lee Bowyer was the Leeds hero as he polished off a slick 89th-minute move to condemn Southampton to a 1-0 reverse at the St Mary's Stadium.

Saints boss Gordon Strachan almost disrupted the title charge being mounted by his old United room-mate David O'Leary.

But Bowyer came the visitors' rescue with a tidy finish to a Mark Viduka through-ball for the late winner.

Former Elland Road star Strachan had guided the Saints to three successive home wins before this game.

But his defence could not quite hold out for a fourth clean sheet in a row at St Mary's.

Leeds recovered from a poor start for Alan Smith to have a goal ruled out for offside and Ian Harte to thunder a free-kick against the Southampton crossbar.

The manner in which United had begun this game suggested far too many turkey sandwiches had been on the players' menu this week, as they lacked the teamwork and fluency which demolished Bolton 3-0 on Boxing Day.

Saints also started the second period as the more impressive side, but again were unable to stick the ball in the back of the net.

Leeds did come back into the game again, and made the home side pay the price for not taking advantage of their dominance.

Saints opened with confidence and purpose and Anders Svensson thumped a sweet volley two yards wide inside 20 seconds.

O'Leary was clearly frustrated as his defence backed off after 10 minutes, allowing Saints' Rory Delap the time and space to unleash a stinging 25-yard drive which forced Nigel Martyn into a full-length diving save.

Leeds' hesitancy was surprising after their impressive showing at the Reebok Stadium. However, the visitors did almost grab the opener when a loose ball from a corner broke to Smith inside the six-yard box but Jones made a fantastic block from the resulting shot.

O'Leary's men went even closer to scoring with a blistering free-kick from Harte. His 25-yard curler after 24 minutes seemed destined for the top left corner of Jones' net, but the ball smacked the face of the Saints crossbar and rebounded to the edge of the penalty area.

Leeds were denied a comical goal by an linesman's flag in the 38th minute. Danny Mills hoisted a high cross into the penalty area and Smith tamely headed the ball goalwards. Bowyer failed to connect as he attempted to clip the ball home but his actions deceived Jones and allowed the ball to trickle over the line. Smith turned away to celebrate but Bowyer was ruled offside.

Svensson, who blazed wide wide just seconds into the first half, did so again - from a great shooting position - at the start of the second period.

At the other end, Jones flicked a precise Viduka strike round the post, while Robbie Fowler's shot whistled wide as Leeds improved again.

Mills was lucky to stay on the field when he appeared to catch Beattie with an elbow in the 68th minute. The Leeds right-back, who had already been booked, was given a stern talking to by referee Mark Halsey.

Jones made a smart parry from a 14-yard Fowler effort in the 74th minute, before Southampton handed French winger Fabrice Fernandes his debut off the bench two minutes later.

But Bowyer became the Leeds hero as he ran onto a clever threaded pass by Viduka and flicked the ball past Jones for a very late winner.

Teams

Southampton: Jones, Dodd, Lundekvam, Williams, Bridge, Telfer (Fernandes 77), Delap, Marsden, Svensson, Pahars, Beattie.

Subs Not Used: Moss, El Khalej, Ormerod, Petrescu.

Booked: Telfer.

Leeds: Martyn, Kelly, Woodgate, Ferdinand, Harte, Mills, Batty, Smith, Bowyer, Fowler (Wilcox 90), Viduka.

Subs Not Used: Robinson, McPhail, Duberry, Singh.

Booked: Mills.

Goals: Bowyer 89.

Att: 31,622

Ref: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City).