Leeds United showed the stuff of genuine championship contenders at Stamford Bridge yesterday but all Chelsea could achieve, in the end, was an afternoon of stuff and nonsense. Stephen McPhail's first two goals in the Premiership returned Leeds to the top of the table, leaving Chelsea's challenge practically invisible.
David O'Leary's team will surely take considerable confidence from this success as they go into the holiday programme. Already lacking David Batty, David Hopkin and Alan Smith, they lost Michael Bridges early in the second half yet managed to improvise a win which, while not particularly pretty, said everything about the team's strength of character.
Certainly Gianluca Vialli, the Chelsea manager, thought that Leeds, who are now two points ahead of Manchester United although they have played a game more, had a good chance of becoming champions. "They have talent, they are young and they still have experienced players," he said.
"They're not scared of anything. This afternoon they kept cool, they waited and they scored. All these things combine to make them a team capable of winning the title."
Little of this applied to Vialli's own side yesterday. Having dominated the first half with their superior passing only to be let down yet again by wayward finishing, Chelsea disintegrated in the second.
To an extent they were victims of misfortune, losing Marcel Desailly for the second half with a shoulder injury and then seeing his replacement at centre-back, Jes Hogh, pull a hamstring just past the hour. There was, however, no excuse for Frank Leboeuf getting himself sent off for the second time this season when, having been cautioned for a lunge from behind on Harry Kewell, he tripped the Australian seven minutes later.
Dominating Leeds in terms of possession and territory meant little when so much of Chelsea's finishing was off target. In fact they came no closer to scoring than the alert header from little Dennis Wise, following a mishit shot from Gustavo Poyet, which Nigel Martyn saved sharply at the start of the second half.
The way McPhail and Eirik Bakke gradually wrested control of the midfield from Wise and Didier Deschamps was impressive and had much to do with Leeds's victory.
Leeds took the lead in the 65th minute soon after Chelsea had lost Hogh and while they were still reorganising at the back. Kewell, who previously had achieved little against Ferrer on the left, now burst through on the right. Leboeuf clipped his heels and down the winger went but not before finding Lee Bowyer, who dragged the ball back for McPhail to drive a shot inside the left-hand post.
Leboeuf's dismissal followed three minutes later but for a while Zola's guile promised Chelsea a point. Then Wise fouled McPhail just beyond the righthand corner of the penalty area and the midfielder's free-kick swung through a crowd of players into the far corner of the net.
CHELSEA: De Goey, Ferrer, Desailly (Hogh 46), Leboeuf, Harley, Wise, Deschamps, Di Matteo, Poyet, Sutton, Flo (Zola 57), Hogh (Petrescu 64). Subs Not Used: Morris, Cudicini. Sent Off: Leboeuf (68). Booked: Leboeuf, Wise, Di Matteo.
LEEDS: Martyn, Kelly, Woodgate, Radebe, Harte, Bowyer (Jones 84), Bakke, McPhail, Kewell, Huckerby, Bridges (Wilcox 48). Subs Not Used: Robinson, Mills, Duberry. Booked: Bowyer, Harte, Kelly. Goals: McPhail 66, 87. Attendance: 35, 106.
Referee: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).
