If this was 'arrivederci' Claudio Ranieri then at least Chelsea's Italian coach went out on a winning note - although he might have deserved the sack if his team had not beaten woeful Leeds.

If all the speculation is to be believed, Ranieri will be paid off and replaced by a new coach - with Porto's Jose Mourinho the favourite for the job.

It would mean that producing Chelsea's second best-ever season - runners-up in the league and semi-finals of the Champions League - just was not good enough for the club's billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

This was Ranieri's 199th game in charge of the Blues and although in football terms it was meaningless because Chelsea had already secured second place in the Premiership and Leeds were relegated, it was nonetheless an emotional afternoon for the popular coach.

Jesper Gronkjaer scored for the third game running as Chelsea enjoyed an end-of-season stroll in the sunshine against relegated Leeds.

The only surprise was that Chelsea failed to score more than that 20th minute goal, although goalkeeper Scott Carson - stepping up for only his second start following the departure of Paul Robinson to Tottenham - deserved credit for some impressive saves.

Joe Cole almost marked his 50th appearance for Chelsea with a goal after six minutes but his swerving shot from the edge of the box was superbly tipped over by Carson.

With England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson among the crowd it was Cole's last chance to impress ahead of the provisional squad for Euro 2004 being announced on Monday.

Chelsea should have taken the lead after 15 minutes when Glen Johnson released Eidur Gudjohnsen and he lobbed the ball wide with just Carson to beat.

Chelsea were in such control that they were taking pot-shots at the Leeds goal and Carson made another superb save after 18 minutes, flying to his left to tip over another Cole effort, this time from 25 yards.

It was a matter of time before Chelsea scored and the inevitable happened after 20 minutes. Johnson, playing on the right of midfield, burst down the flank and delivered a deep cross for Gronkjaer to dive in unmarked at the far post and score with a downward header.

It took until the 71st minute for Leeds to finally have their first shot on target. They won a free-kick on the left, 25 yards from goal and substitute Jermaine Pennant curled the ball over the wall only to see it crash back off the near post.

Defeat for woeful Leeds meant they ended the season second from bottom in the Premiership and collected little more than £1million in prize money. In contrast, Chelsea's runners-up spot was worth more than £10million.

Teams

Chelsea: Cudicini, Melchiot, Gallas, Terry (Huth 85), Bridge, Gronkjaer, Makelele, Lampard (Nicolas 90), Johnson (Stanic 82), Cole, Gudjohnsen.

Subs Not Used: Ambrosio, Crespo.

Goals: Gronkjaer 20.

Leeds: Carson, Richardson, Duberry, Radebe, Harte, Kelly, Matteo, Olembe (Barmby 80), Wilcox (Pennant 61), Milner, Smith.

Subs Not Used: Allaway, McPhail, Kilgallon.

Att: 41,276

Ref: M Dean (Wirral).