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Matches
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5
April 2003 - Charlton Athletic 1 Leeds United 6
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Premiership - The Valley - 26,274 |
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Scorers: Kewell 2 (12, 76), Harte (34 pen), Viduka 3, 1 pen (42, 53, 56 pen) |
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Charlton Athletic: Kiely; Young, Fish, Rufus, Konchesky (El-Khalej 65); Kishishev (Powell 46), Parker, Jensen; Euell; Johansson, Lisbie (Svensson 46) |
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Leeds United: Robinson; Mills, Radebe, Duberry, Harte; Kelly, Bakke (Milner 85), Matteo; Kewell (Wilcox 80), Smith (Simon Johnson 78), Viduka |
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After a bright start to Venables' tenure at Elland Road, which encompassed
a win at Newcastle and a defeat of Manchester United,
things went badly for El Tel during the autumn and the shaky financial
position facing the club was crystallised in the January transfer window
as Lee Bowyer, Olivier Dacourt, Robbie Fowler and, most grievous of all,
Jonathan Woodgate all departed the squad in what was popularly touted
as a closing down sale. Having already seen Rio Ferdinand and Robbie Keane
depart in the previous transfer window, Venables could find no way to
inspire his remaining names and had seen them sink towards the bottom
of the table, with First Division Sheffield United dumping them from both
domestic Cup competitions. Inevitably, Venables paid the price for failing to deliver against unrealistic
expectations with his job, and shortly after, the man known as Publicity
Pete had also been shown the door as Leeds announced dismal interim financial
results. On 21 March 2003 former England player and Sunderland manager Peter Reid
took over as caretaker manager for Leeds United's final eight Premiership
games in the desperate hope that he could revive a dying patient. As Reid
took over Leeds were in 15th position, just seven points clear of the
relegation zone and facing a run in which would test their resolve to
the limit. Reid had been out of football since being sacked by the Teesside club
in October, and jumped at what many good judges felt was a poisoned chalice,
saying: 'I got a phone call around about 9 o'clock and I snapped Mr Ridsdale's
hand off. It was a pleasant surprise but I was just delighted. I want
to go in there, enjoy the eight games and get as many good results as
we can. We've got to get results, anybody who understands football will
know that one team always gets sucked into the mire and I've got to make
sure that it isn't Leeds.' It quickly became very clear to Reid exactly how big a task he had taken
on when Leeds lost his first match in charge 3-1 at Liverpool, falling
to sixteenth in the table, with only five points separating them from
Bolton Wanderers who had a game in hand. The next match, on 5 April, offered no solace as they faced Alan Curbishley's
exciting Charlton team, enjoying a remarkably good season, sitting in
seventh position and just eight points below a Champions' League qualifying
position. Charlton had already pulled off a shock win at Elland Road earlier
in the season after a last minute goal from England hopeful Scott Parker,
and were odds on to complete the league double over their under performing
opponents. Charlton's splendid form and steady ascent up the Premiership table might
have been dented in the weeks preceding the game, but, with just four
points out of the 27 available since they beat Birmingham 2-0 on New Year's
Day, it was the shortfall in Leeds United's form which was much the more
significant. For his first game, Reid had kept faith for the most part with Terry
Venables' selection, but now he chose to ring the changes, with five players
dropped, including the former manager's four recruits, Teddy
Lucic, Raśl Bravo, Paul Okon and
Nick Barmby. Defenders Gary Kelly and Dominic Matteo were recalled and
deployed in midfield, alongside Eirik Bakke, while Alan Smith and Harry
Kewell were given free rein to support Mark Viduka up front in a flexible
4-3-3 set up. There was definitely something new about Leeds' performance, but it came
down to something as simple as that quintessential British footballing
quality - spirit. Viduka and Kewell's game may have been all about refinement
and skill, but Bakke Gary Kelly was in the Charlton players' faces immediately from the off
and soon an inspired Alan Smith was giving them further problems all over
the park with a masterclass in how to mess up the opposition without resorting
to violence. He was continually probing where it hurt the Addicks' defence
most and gave them an uncomfortable afternoon. The opening goal came in the 12th minute, rewarding United for their
utter dominance. It had been fully nine minutes before Charlton managed
to get out of their own half, so total was Leeds' command as they forced
a series of early corners, pinning the Londoners back inside their own
area. The three United forwards combined skilfully to engineer the opening,
with Kewell starting things off with a dangerous run from the left before
laying the ball off to Viduka in the area. Instant control gave the striker
time to find Smith who drifted to his left, found space and angled the
ball cleverly across the face of goal. Kewell had drifted in after his
run and had a simple sidefoot home with acres of space around him as the
defence was attracted towards his attacking colleagues. Leeds continued to hustle and harry and went 2-0 ahead in the 34th minute.
They had already come close when Kewell's header on from an Ian Harte
corner forced such panic that a Charlton defender knocked the ball goalwards
before the outstanding Parker managed to head off the line. Goalkeeper
Dean Kiely then blocked Viduka's rising drive and Kewell wasted the rebound,
but the pressure soon told. Again Smith was the architect. Gary Kelly played the ball to him in the
area. With his back to goal, and closely policed by Richard Rufus, who
seemed to be trying to share his shirt, Smith rolled around his assailant,
whose instant reaction was to fling out an arm and a leg, sending the
striker sprawling for a clear penalty. Eagerness to make Charlton pay for the error saw Harte and Viduka bickering
testily over who would take the spot kick, before the Irishman snatched
the ball and fired it home. Viduka was clearly annoyed by Harte's actions
and gave him a verbal roasting, continuing to show his displeasure with
his team mate even after the goal. It was unfortunate for Leeds that the Aussie did not get as riled as
this every week because from that moment on he simply destroyed Charlton
with some sharp movement and even sharper finishing. Three minutes from the interval, Smith was at it again, beating Rufus
in the air and nodding the ball on for Viduka to chest down and drive
home a low shot from a sharp angle 20 yards out. The ball went across
Kiely and its bounce beat him but there was no blame attached to the keeper
because Viduka's effort was driven by a unique combination Moments later, Charlton somehow found a response and Parker stormed into
the area, prompting Radebe to bring him down with a crude challenge. It
was another easy penalty decision for referee Eddie Wolstenholme and Jason
Euell gratefully converted with Charlton's first real attempt of the day,
sending Paul Robinson the wrong way. Coming as it did, on the stroke of half time, being pulled back to 3-1
could have set the Leeds nerves on edge, and Alan Curbishley did his best
to press home any advantage by sending out fresh legs after the interval
with Powell and Svensson replacing Kishishev and Lisbie. Parker and Euell
combined well early on to threaten the goal but Robinson's instant reaction
save denied them, and from then on normal service was resumed as United
overran flagging opponents who could find no answers on the day. Eight minutes after the interval, Smith was away again to set up Viduka's
second and Leeds' fourth. He trapped a throw in on his chest, although
Charlton felt his hand played a part, turned cleverly and wriggled away
from two challenges. The defence retreated in disarray before his run
and he slipped the ball sideways to Viduka, who steered the ball home
with calm assurance from the edge of the box. The away support, bemused by the turn of affairs broke into cries of
'What the f*** is going on?' with gleeful exuberance. The home fans' response
was limited to sullen silence and some early departures. Smith was destined not to make it onto the scoresheet, but he had a hand
in everything that was best about the performance, giving a prominent
dig in the ribs to the watching England manager, Sven Goran Eriksson,
to remind him of his considerable assets when on form. It was no surprise
when he secured another penalty after 56 minutes, slipping clear of the
unfortunate Rufus to bear into the area only for Luke Young to send him
flying. Harte knew it would have been more than his life was worth to try to
deprive Viduka a second time, and graciously withdrew, allowing the Australian
to complete his hat trick, with a deft and impertinent chip after committing
Kiely to the dive. It was the sign of a master at work. Viduka nearly crowned his contribution with a smashing fourth when substitute
Jason Wilcox played him clear in the middle, but his powerful drive thundered
out after crashing against the crossbar. By then, however, Leeds were
already 6-1 up. The predatory instincts of Harry Kewell allowed him to
intercept a loose square pass from the replacement defender Tahar El Khalej
and race through down the left channel before curling home his own second
goal of the game. Euell's effort was disallowed for a foul on Radebe, and Charlton had
two penalty appeals refused, but in reality they were only irritations
as a committed footballing display by Leeds United rolled them over. At
times their play was as good as any side in the Premiership and there
would have been few teams who could have lived with them on this particular
day. The commitment and drive of Alan Smith had been the key factor which
had made the difference but on this occasion it had been directed at punching
holes in the penalty area rather than in fruitless exhibitions of thuggery.
Peter Reid acknowledged as much afterwards: Reid gushed over with pleasure at the quality of the all round display,
which saw Leeds rise to 14th and establish a six point cushion over the
relegation zone. 'The players deserve all the credit. I couldn't have
asked any more from them. Morale wasn't great at Anfield during the first
half, but it's the players who have done a really good job here. They
were in a difficult position but have set themselves some really good
standards that they now need to keep up. The catalyst for our win was
the work ethic. The players let their football do all the talking. 'When the whistle blew, Gary Kelly shut someone down almost immediately
and, when we were 6-1 up in the last minute, there were still three of
them shutting someone down. I would like to come away and win every week.
We've played two games now and I've won one and lost one, so I need to
improve that record. We've got six games left and let's try to win all
of them.' Clearly the job was not yet done and Leeds still required a decent return
of points from their six remaining matches, but this was a morale boosting
triumph, their most emphatic of the season, and the team's best result
since they despatched Leicester 6-0 in the League Cup in October 2001. One could only wonder what the departed Terry Venables was thinking if
he were to compare this performance with the tepid displays served up
by the same set of players under his leadership. Certainly, new chairman
Professor John McKenzie sported a broad smile throughout the day, even
before kick off, and must have considered professional football a very
easy and enjoyable way to earn a living. |