Leeds calmly move up a gear

With every point dropped by Manchester United and every game drawn between two of the supposed big five, the conviction grows that this will be the closest title-race for years.

Following fast on the news from Anfield yesterday came further evidence here, where Leeds United returned to top-spot with their first victory in five weeks.

October had been a drawn month for Leeds, though given that they met Liverpool and United away and Chelsea at home it was no mean feat.

But only Aston Villa exploited Leeds's point-to-point sequence to take the league leadership, and that was for only a week before Leeds resumed the lead here with another performance that lacked the verve of last season. Yet, David O'Leary's team retain the only unbeaten record in the league and the manager was chuffed that Harry Kewell's 82nd-minute winner emerged from nowhere to overcome a defensively disciplined and increasingly impressive Tottenham Hotspur.

Tottenham had won three in a row and, as Glenn Hoddle said, were conceivably on their way to a fourth after Gustavo Poyet's 52nd-minute opener. That was the first Premiership goal Leeds have conceded here this season but two errors of judgment by Neil Sullivan allowed Ian Harte and Kewell to retrieve the situation.

"The best team won, I thought" were the first words from O'Leary, a strange choice after an afternoon so even. "We dominated the game and out of their first attack they scored a goal. It was a soft goal from our point of view."

Hoddle had sat in the same seat seconds earlier and said the opposite. "We've shot ourselves in the foot today, simple as that. We didn't deserve to lose that game, that's for sure, and from 1-0 up I didn't know where they were going to get a goal from."

He could not have imagined it would be from his own number one. Asked if Sullivan had held up his hands in guilt at his mistakes, Hoddle replied: "Not high enough."

It was a joke about Sullivan's hesitation on Leeds's second goal, presumably, rather than a request for more apologies from his goalkeeper, because Hoddle also blamed Dean Richards. The defender had a fine game alongside Chris Perry, who also did well, but, when a Danny Mills throw-in came from the right, Richards tried to clear it but felt the ball skid backwards off the top of his head. There was still no immediate danger but, as Perry shepherded the ball towards Sullivan, both stalled and Kewell nipped in.

Kewell had produced a late pair against Derby County in Leeds's last home league win and that may well say something about the determination of both player and club.

This also provided another illustration of Leeds's ability to hold what they have. Seven minutes before Kewell's winning intervention, Rio Ferdinand had protected home parity with a vital clearance of a goal-bound Ledley King shot. Seven minutes after Kewell's goal, Leeds packed their box to help prevent Richards getting to a Christian Ziege corner.

Richards missed the ball altogether, just as Les Ferdinand had failed to manage a touch on a Darren Anderton cross in the first half, but, good as those opportunities were, Leeds could claim that Nigel Martyn made no significant save the whole match.

Poyet's left-foot drive beat him, though, after slick passing between Ziege and Teddy Sheringham, but the lead lasted only nine minutes before Harte's right-foot effort was deflected on to the post by Sullivan only for the ball to bounce into the net off the back of his shoulder.

Robbie Keane should have given Leeds the advantage shortly afterwards, but hit Sullivan's legs, and the draw seemed the likely outcome until Kewell grabbed his sixth of the season. This morning he will be on a plane bound for Australia with Mark Viduka to play France in that controversial friendly. How Leeds cope without them against Sunderland away and Villa at home will tell us more about the depth of their championship challenge.

O'Leary also mentioned that Lee Bowyer - who was substituted as Seth Johnson made his debut yesterday - and Jonathan Woodgate would be absent for the UEFA Cup tie in Zurich on November 22nd.

O'Leary did not want to discuss at length the state of the championship race, but, having annoyed Old Trafford with his "edgy" comment last week, he extended some words of friendship: "I still think Manchester United are the team to beat."

LEEDS UNITED: Martyn, Mills, Ferdinand, Matteo, Harte, Bowyer (Johnson 39), Bakke, Dacourt (Batty 81), Kewell, Keane (Smith 73), Viduka. Subs Not Used: Duberry, Robinson. Booked: Johnson. Goals: Harte 61, Kewell 82.

TOTTENHAM: Sullivan, Perry, Richards, King, Taricco, Poyet (Davies 86), Freund (Rebrov 87), Anderton, Ziege, Ferdinand, Sheringham. Subs Not Used: Keller, Bunjevcevic, Thatcher. Booked: Poyet, Sheringham, Ziege. Goal: Poyet 52.

Referee: S Bennett (Kent).