Andy Cole eventually provided the much-needed tonic for a European hangover
which threatened Manchester United's Treble-chasing aspirations at Elland Road
today.
Cole scored his 23rd goal of the season to earn a vital point which leaves
Alex Ferguson's men a point behind Arsenal with a game in hand in the great
Premiership chase.
It brought the prolific Cole-Dwight Yorke partnership their 50th goal of the
campaign.
But when manager Alex Ferguson dissects all the nuances of this pulsating game
he will again have to thank his tireless, terrier-like captain Roy Keane for
pulling his side out of the mire in the face of demoralising defeat.
Keane, the man whose European campaign ended against Juventus in the crushing
disappointment of a yellow card which keeps him out of the final next month, put
the hurt behind him, rolled up his sleeves and got stuck in to ensuring that he
at least lifts the Premiership title.
He stuck his head in where it hurts, covered every blade of grass at Elland
Road, urged on his lethargic team-mates with a passion and provided the telling
cross which led to Cole's equaliser.
Never was the all-pervading influence of the dynamic Irish midfielder needed
more.
Make no mistake, this was a morning when Manchester took their title ambitions
across the Pennines and came within a whisker of becoming the victims of a
soccer mugging.
Leeds boss David O'Leary has identified his young side as the team most likely
to threaten Manchester's dominance over the next five years.
The way they tore into an out-of-sorts Manchester side for much of this
combative match suggests that white ribbons along with red will soon be adorning
some of the game's major prizes.
O'Leary made a point of congratulating every one of his players at the final
whistle - seven of whom were 21 or under.
He had made a point of signing a new five-year contract, worth £6million,
before the kick-off and hopes his allegiance will be a signal to his young
players to do the same.
"I have got a wonderful team who are going in the right direction," he
said.
"I want people to come here and enjoy them because there is a great spirit at
this club. We are going to try to hound and chase Manchester United over the
next five years. Especially at Old Trafford - we want to go there and win."
Well, they did a pretty good job of hounding and chasing at Elland Road today.
Indeed, for much of the first hour it was Manchester doing all the chasing - and
the man at the heart of Leeds' wonderfully penetrating work was 19-year-old
Australian Harry Kewell.
The pacy striker had beaten boss O'Leary at golf in midweek and had been
threatened with extra running in training for his impudence.
It looked as if he had begun his punishment this morning as he tormented and
terrorised full-back Gary Neville and central defender David May, who had come
in for injured Dutch defender Jaap Stam.
The first half, in particular, was testimony to the quality of the football
which O'Leary has nurtured in his six months in charge at Elland Road.
Leeds were quicker to the ball, hungrier in the tackle and sharper in just
about every department of the game. Lee Bowyer, Stephen McPhail and David Batty
surged forward relentlessly in midfield, and Manchester - feeling the effects of
their European exertions - were at times swept aside.
Up front Leeds possess a strikeforce as pacy and penetrating as any in the
Premiership - and it is no exaggeration to say they could have gone in at the
interval with a lead to turn United's faces as red as their shirts.
Bowyer and Kewell, twice, squandered free headers. Alan Smith pulled his
right-foot shot wide after McPhail and Kewell had cut through the Leeds defence
with the most enterprising move of the match.
So when the first goal came in the 32nd minute it was no more than Leeds
deserved.
Kewell, one of the most thrilling runners in the Premiership, scythed through
the United defence before feeding a precise ball through to Hasselbaink in acres
of space in the penalty area.
Schmeichel, racing from his line, desperately attempted to retrieve the
situation, but the Dutch striker has perhaps the quickest feet in the
Premiership.
As Scmeichel closed he merely shuffled his position before clipping the ball
through the advancing goalkeeper's legs.
United's defenders remonstrated with each other, but there was always the
chance that Leeds would rue their profligacy in that first half.
So it proved too as the pressure and momentum Leeds had built up evaporated in
the half-time dressing-room like steam from a kettle.
It is a fair bet the steam emanating from Ferguson, who had marched from his
VIP seat in the stand to the dug-out after United's uninspiring first half-hour,
also had a major bearing on United's improvement.
Whatever, it was no surprise when Manchester's increased determination
conjured up an equaliser in the 56th minute. Almost inevitably it emanated from
Keane, the one man who looked unaffected by the exertions of Turin.
The midfield man clipped the ball forward from the edge of the area, and Leeds
goalkeeper Nigel Martyn could only palm out Nicky Butt's downward header to
Cole, who bundled the ball over the line from close range.
The goal proved to be a double blow for Leeds, with Jonathon Woodgate - who
injured himself in a desperate bid to keep the ball out of the net - being
replaced by David Wetherall.
The injury will prevent young Woodgate from joining the England squad for the
midweek match with Hungary, but that is a situation which did not exactly
disappoint O'Leary.
"It gives him the chance for a rest which he desperately needs," said the
Leeds boss.
There were four bookings - Hasselbaink for Leeds and May, Butt and perhaps
inevitably Keane for Manchester.
That is not to say it was ever a dirty game. In the end the point was probably
justice - but it was clear right to the end that both teams desperately wanted
to win.
As the game became increasingly stretched, either side could have nicked it in
the closing stages.
Kewell's left-foot drive flashed past a post; Hasselbaink's goal-bound shot
was blocked by May, and both Smith and substitute Clyde Wijnhard shot straight
at Schmeichel when they should have done better.
As it was, however, the victory would have been Manchester's if Yorke had not
blazed over the bar deep into injury-time after being put through by United
substitute Teddy Sheringham.
Leeds, it is clear, are going to play a significant part in the destination of
the Premiership title.
They still have to play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and Arsenal must travel to
Elland Road next month.
Despite O'Leary's allegiance to his old mates at Highbury, there is no
question his Leeds side will fail in their duty to test the Gunners to the
hilt.
"I'll try to kick their butt when we play them; there is no question of
that," he confirmed.
If they put on a show similar to today's there will be no complaints from
Ferguson.
Teams
Leeds: Martyn, Jones, Woodgate (Wetherall 59), Radebe, Harte,
Bowyer, Batty, McPhail, Kewell, Hasselbaink (Wijnhard 86), Smith.
Subs Not Used: Ribeiro, Halle, Robinson.
Booked: Hasselbaink.
Goals: Hasselbaink 32.
Man Utd: Schmeichel, G. Neville, May, Brown,
Irwin (P. Neville 71), Beckham (Scholes 84), Butt, Keane,
Blomqvist (Sheringham 77), Yorke, Cole.
Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Curtis.
Booked: May, Butt, Keane.
Goals: Cole 56.
Att: 40,255
Ref: D Gallagher (Banbury).
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