Chelsea and Leeds United kept each other off the pace in the Premiership here yesterday. While scoring a goal apiece was no small feat in a match dominated by defences, the draw scarcely sent a ripple through the teams immediately above them and was of no consequence at all to the runaway leaders, Manchester United and Arsenal.
A point at Chelsea might not be a bad afternoon's work but Leeds were disappointed that they did not take all three. After Mark Viduka's header had given them the lead a minute past the hour, David O'Leary's side assumed almost complete control of the game and appeared set to win in some style.
Then, with 11 minutes remaining, Gustavo Poyet nodded Chelsea level and thereafter neither side could muster sufficient attacking elan to score a winner. Leeds would have had a better chance of victory had their scorer, Mark Viduka, not gone off with an ankle injury a quarter of an hour from the end.
Certainly the burly Australian had appeared the striker most likely to produce a decisive result. He led the line consistently well and overall proved more of a handful for Chelsea's defence than did Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for Leeds'.
This was Hasselbaink's first confrontation with Leeds since his abrupt departure from Elland Road for Atletico Madrid at the start of last season. "Judas, Judas what's the score?" asked the visiting supporters after Leeds had gone ahead, but long before that Lucas Radebe had left the Dutchman in little doubt in that respect.
The only blemish on Radebe's performance was the number of times he fouled his man. This habit brought him a caution early in the second half and, more pertinently for Leeds, eventually led to Chelsea drawing level.
Was it imagination or did O'Leary's players seem to be walking taller since negotiating their way to the second round of the Champions League after being drawn in such a devil of a group in the first? There was an added poise about their football yesterday, with Lee Bowyer as persistent an influence as ever on the right and Alan Smith's refusal to give up a chase at times unsettling Frank Leboeuf and even the massive calm of Marcel Desailly.
Two sharp shots from Hasselbaink tested Paul Robinson's reflexes towards half-time, but Chelsea were still not maintaining the sort of pressure required to break Leeds down. Leeds, meanwhile, had created fewer chances but looked as if they were biding their time.
So it was to prove. As Gianfranco Zola began to wane Bowyer started to prosper further still. After 61 minutes Viduka reached his corner ahead of Mario Melchiot and Ed de Goey was beaten by a slick header inside the near post. It was Viduka's 11th goal of the season.
For a time Chelsea appeared to accept their fate. Then Claudio Ranieri, facing a first home defeat since becoming Chelsea coach in late September, made a wholesale switch that quickly turned his team on again. Albert Ferrer, Zola and Sam Dalla Bona gave way to Eidur Gudjohnsen, Tore Andre Flo and Jody Morris, giving Chelsea extra weight near goal. Their equaliser was a direct result of this.
In the 79th minute Radebe was pulled up yet again for fouling Hasselbaink, and Poyet's free kick from 20 yards took a looping deflection off the wall before being tipped over the bar by Robinson. From Dennis Wise's corner Hasselbaink then had two shots blocked, the second rebounding square and high to Flo, who headed it back for Poyet to nod it in.
CHELSEA: de Goey, Babayaro, Leboeuf, Desailly, Poyet, Hasselbaink, Wise, Melchiot, Ferrer (Gudjohnsen 75), Dalla Bona (Morris 76), Zola (Flo 76). Subs Not Used: Jokanovic, Cudicini. Booked: Desailly, Dalla Bona, Wise, Babayaro. Goal: Poyet 79.
LEEDS UNITED: Robinson, Kelly, Harte, Dacourt, Radebe, Viduka (Huckerby 76), Bowyer, Smith, Mills, Bakke, Matteo. Subs Not Used: Jones, Hay, Burns, Milosevic. Booked: Kelly, Smith, Radebe, Bakke, Matteo. Goal: Viduka 62.
Referee: G Poll (Tring).
