The sigh of relief which swept round at Elland Road at the final whistle was
palpable as free-scoring Mark Viduka's latest two-goal salvo virtually
guaranteed Leeds Premiership football for next season.
When Leeds look back on what has been a season of shame, Viduka will be owed a
debt of gratitude for his form since the start of March has been inspirational,
hotter than that of Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy and Thierry Henry of
Arsenal.
With goals at the start of each half, Viduka took his soaring tally to 19 for
the season, although somewhat remarkably, 11 of those have come in his last
seven league outings.
If Leeds do stay up - bearing in mind no team has been relegated on 41 points
since the inception of the Premier League 11 years ago - the 27-year-old's
scorching scoring streak will be looked upon as having been the key to their
survival.
Leeds are now six points clear of relegation-haunted West Ham, and given their
far superior goal difference over the unhappy Hammers, it would surely take a
footballing miracle for interim manager Peter Reid's side to be relegated now.
Reid still has another three games to convince the Leeds board he is the right
man for the full-time job after being told to keep United in the top flight
following his appointment five matches ago as successor to the sacked Terry
Venables.
Reid has almost kept his part of the bargain, and it now remains to be seen
whether he will be rewarded, although Nottingham Forest's Paul Hart
speculatively remains the favourite for a return to Elland Road given his former
role as youth team coach.
At least Reid received the positive reaction he demanded from his
under-performing stars in the wake of Saturday's debacle at Southampton where
the 3-2 scoreline flattered Leeds.
The 46-year-old had let the players know, in no uncertain terms, just how
disgusted he was with a performance which ranked as one of the worst of the
season.
Away from Loftus Road Fulham's record has been abysmal this season as they
went into the game on the back of a 13-match winless streak - nine defeats and
four draws - with their last on-the-road success in mid-September at
Sunderland.
Inside four minutes, it was abundantly obvious as to why travel sickness has
become the norm this season for Fulham, although there was a touch of good
fortune in Leeds' opener.
Referee Neale Barry awarded the first corner of the game in favour of Leeds,
but failed to spot the final touch came off Harry Kewell.
Leeds gratefully took full advantage, with Gary Kelly's outswinging corner met
by a bullet header from Viduka for his 18th of the campaign.
Despite the misery at the St Mary's Stadium, Reid kept faith with the starting
11, albeit Danny Mills reverted to his customary role at right-back following an
apathetic display at the hear of the defence.
Skipper Dominic Matteo was switched from central midfield to centre-back, with
Kelly in a surprising anchor role in the middle of the park, with Kewell on the
right wing and Jason Wilcox on the left.
It was the latter who almost added a second in the eighth minute, only to fire
a crisp drive narrowly wide of Maik Taylor's right-hand post, which was the
destination for later chances in the half from Alan Smith and Kewell.
But then three minutes after the restart Leeds sealed a priceless win, with
Viduka initially feeding a wide-open Kewell through the middle and, although
sandwiched by Jon Harley and Zat Knight, he managed to squeeze in a shot which
was blocked by Taylor.
The ball ran kindly to Viduka following up on his pass as he smashed home a
game-killing right-foot shot from 15 yards.
With the job done, Leeds looked to add an exclamation point, only for Kewell
to clip a post and for Andy Melville to deny Viduka his hat trick with a timely
outstretched left boot on a night when United goalkeeper Paul Robinson was a
virtual spectator.
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