Robbie Fowler kept Leeds in the hunt for Champions League football next season
with a quickfire brace to strengthen his claims for a place in England coach
Sven-Goran Eriksson's World Cup squad.
In front of Eriksson's watching assistant - Tord Grip - Fowler took his tally
to 14 for the season, and 11 in 17 appearances since his £11million arrival from
Liverpool at the end of November.
Fowler's double in the space of just 145 seconds early in the first half set
Leeds on their way to a second successive victory, wrapped up by Harry Kewell's
first goal for three months.
The vital three points means Leeds are now five behind fourth-placed
Newcastle, and with Chelsea's 4-0 romp at home to Sunderland, a battle
royal looks like being waged between the trio from now until the end of the
season.
For Blackburn, after moving out of the bottom three on the back of a
seven-point haul from three matches following their Worthington Cup triumph,
they again left Leeds empty handed.
It is now 43 years since Rovers won a league game at Elland Road, with this
latest failure to pick up a point in West Yorkshire leaving Graeme Souness' side
still hovering precariously above the relegation zone.
Unfortunately for Blackburn they ran into a Leeds side who, for the first 30
minutes, played the kind of football not seen for a considerable period of time
as they tore Rovers to shreds during that spell.
A cynic would state it was the kind of football not seen since O'Leary chose
to take a backseat role in the coaching duties a year ago following Brian Kidd's
step up from youth academy director to head coach.
In the wake of the furore involving Kidd a fortnight ago when he was the
target of fans' abuse and blamed for the club's 10-game winless streak, O'Leary
immediately announced he would be taking a more hands-on role with training.
A 2-0 triumph over Ipswich swiftly followed, and in the intervening 11 days
ideas have clearly been implemented which bore fruit during that opening half
hour.
Leeds passed the ball as crisply as they have all season, although the opening
goal in the fifth minute owed more to Tugay's lack of vision and Fowler's
anticipation than it did to good football, but the finish was exquisite.
Tugay's sloppy pass to Hakan Unsal was intercepted by Fowler, allowing the
striker to run on and slide home his 10th goal for Leeds under the advancing
Brad Friedel.
Celebrations could have been short-lived if Nigel Martyn had not managed to
get his fingertips to a searing 20-yard David Dunn drive just moments later.
Instead, the cheers doubled in intensity as Fowler struck again so swiftly
after opening his account, and with a natural goalscorer's finish.
Alan Smith was the recipient of a raking ball from Ian Harte, the striker then
delivering a first-time cross from the left wing for Fowler to expertly sidefoot
home from six yards.
With Leeds rampant, it should have been 3-0 just three minutes later as Kewell
then went on a surging run down the left.
The Australia international played an incisive one-two with Fowler before
feeding Mark Viduka for a cushioned header, only to see his compatriot place his
effort a yard wide of the left-hand post and with Smith in plenty of space
behind him.
Smith, the preferred choice at right wing ahead of Gary Kelly - linked with a
£2million move to Sunderland - in the absence of the suspended Lee Bowyer, was
given the freedom of the park down that side as Unsal was sucked into the
middle.
But despite implicit instructions from a very animated O'Leary, Smith was all
too often ignored, with possession wasted and it could have proved costly as
Leeds were unsurprisingly unable to keep up the tempo they had set in the early
exchanges.
When Matt Jansen capitalised on a 49th minute combination error from
Jonathan Woodgate, Leeds then endured an uncomfortable spell.
Jansen's 13th goal of the season was a firm drive beyond Martyn, but any
threat of a Blackburn revival was curtailed 19 minutes from time as Leeds
capitalised on a four-on-two break, with Rovers committed in attack.
Robbie Keane, a 64th minute sub for the injured Smith, picked out Kewell and
after an initial glance to size up the situation, he despatched a superb
left-foot cracker beyond Friedel for his 11th goal of the season.
Teams:
Leeds: Martyn, Mills, Ferdinand, Woodgate, Harte,
Smith (Keane 65), Dacourt (Bakke 72), Batty,
Kewell (Wilcox 82), Fowler, Viduka.
Subs Not Used: Robinson, Kelly.
Booked: Batty, Mills.
Goals: Fowler 5, 8, Kewell 71.
Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Berg, Johansson, Unsal,
Dunn (Gillespie 34), Tugay (Hughes 45), Flitcroft, Duff, Yordi,
Jansen, Gillespie (Hignett 84).
Subs Not Used: Miller, Taylor.
Booked: Hughes.
Goals: Jansen 49.
Att: 39,857
Ref: G Poll (Tring).
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