England keeper Nigel Martyn was the villain of the piece as he allowed a late
Temuri Ketsbaia drive to slip through his arms after an otherwise faultless
performance.
A brilliant save from Martyn and then an equally superb finish from Rod
Wallace, within the space of 90 seconds, seemed to have given the visitors all
three points until substitute Ketsbaia, on the field for less than two minutes,
fired a fortunate 87th minute equaliser.
And this time Martyn went from hero to villain in the Leeds' fans eyes with a
dreadful error allowing the Georgian's long-range effort fly through his arms.
Martyn flung himself to parry an Alan Shearer header in the 81st minute and
then the visitors broke to the other end.
Swedish star Andreas Andersson had been the star of the first half but his
performance hadn't been enough to break the deadlock.
When the recalled Aaron Hughes, brought into the game to mark Aussie Harry
Kewell, was pressurised by the talented attacker to give away an unnecessary
corner Newcastle keeper Shay Given came out confidently to punch clear of his
area.
And as the play switched to the other end former Elland Road favourite Gary
Speed missed a great fourth-minute opportunity to put the home side ahead.
The opening was created by the superb play of Andersson, who turned smartly on
the left to lay a great ball into the path of the Welsh skipper who miscued in
front of goal - a great early opportunity gone begging.
Less than a minute later the former Everton midfielder had another
opportunity at the near post but his first touch let him down.
Then after more fine play by the ever-threatening Andersson the visitors
broke and were inches away from the lead when Kewell, arriving late at the far
post, headed a Rod Wallace right wing cross inches past the far post in the
eighth minute.
Home striker Alan Shearer had a fine effort pushed onto the woodwork by Nigel
Martyn in the 18th minute, after Andersson once again produced a superb run
cutting in from the left.
Then less than two minutes later he was once again
thwarted by the Leeds keeper, Martyn parried a far-post header over.
Wallace hit back for Leeds when he fired inches wide of Given's right-hand
post after a burst of pace from Bruno Ribeiro down the right.
Pearce hit back for the Magpies with a low free kick before the
visitors gradually quietened the home support as Kewell and Wallace began to run
at the home defence with growing confidence.
Kewell joined Haaland in the referee's notebook in the 32nd minute for
showing dissent but from Gillespie's free kick Shearer headed weakly behind.
Ribeiro then became the third Leeds player booked in the 35th minute,
although he won the ball in a challenge on Batty his tackle was technically from
behind.
The home crowd were growing a little frustrated with their side's efforts as
a bright start seemed to have turned into more mediocre fare.
Eight minutes before the break Gillespie broke free down the right and his
inch perfect cross was met by Andersson at the near post but his well struck
drive flashed inches past.
A minute before the break Kelly became the fourth Leeds player booked for a
needless challenge on Pistone as the Italian burst down the left.
The second half began quietly until Haaland stretched to fire a couple of
feet wide after a superb run and cross from Kelly.
The home side gained a 50th minute free kick when Gillespie was fouled
centrally 22 yards out but Shearer's blockbuster flew narrowly wide.
Then Jimmy
Floyd Hasselbaink forced a great save from Given.
Wallace became the fifth Leeds player booked after a superb run by home
skipper Lee was ended abruptly on the half way line - but was there really a
need for five yellow cards in a game which was hardly dirty.
An error by Speed, having a below par game for the home side, allowed Leeds
to break with pace and Hasselbaink fired a powerful low drive a foot wide.
As the need for a breakthrough grew so the visitors' confidence grew as they
realised all three points were there for the taking.
And this feeling increased when Given stretched to somehow get the slightest
of touches to parry a Wallace piledriver against the woodwork - it was some
effort from the Leeds star which deserved a greater reward.
But there was still a sting to the tail with two late goals in the final
seven minutes.
Teams
Newcastle: Given, Hughes (Ketsbaia 86), Pistone, Batty, Howey,
Pearce, Lee, Gillespie (Albert 86), Speed, Andersson, Shearer.
Subs Not Used: Hislop, Barnes, Tomasson.
Booked: Batty.
Goals: Ketsbaia 87.
Leeds: Martyn, Kelly, Molenaar, Halle, Haaland, Wetherall,
Maybury, Ribeiro, Kewell, Hasselbaink, Wallace.
Subs Not Used: Beeney, Harte, Hopkin, Jones, McPhail.
Booked: Haaland, Kewell, Ribeiro, Kelly, Wallace.
Goals: Wallace 82.
Att: 36,511
Ref: G S Willard (Worthing).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook