SO IT is not all about money — not always, anyway. Top versus bottom met at Elland Road yesterday in the ultimate clash of the haves and have-nots, when another 90 minutes of wholehearted graft from impoverished Leeds deservedly brought them their second restorative result in eight days.
Eddie Gray, the caretaker manager, has given his team their pride back by excluding foreign loan signings in favour of those committed to a long term future with the club, and the response here was as impressive as it was when Leeds won 1-0 at Charlton last week.
There were no reported sightings of the sheikh, or any of the other would-be saviours of Leeds, but Roman Abramovich, who has invested more than £100m in search of the championship, looked on, less than chuffed, as Chelsea struggled in vain to overcome the remnants of a team wrecked by another money man’s ego trip.
Chelsea arrived on the back of five straight wins, Carlo Cudicini having kept seven successive clean sheets, but both sequences were ended by Jermaine Pennant, the 20-year-old loan signing from Arsenal, who gave Leeds the lead with a gem of a goal after 18 minutes. Damien Duff equalised midway through the second half, but then long periods of Chelsea pressure came to nought against spirited Leeds defence.
Gray’s charges were defiant and diligent, their sleeves-rolled attitude personified by Alan Smith and Dominic Matteo, who ran themselves to a standstill in the unaccustomed role of central midfield. Chelsea, nevertheless, had sufficient chances to have claimed all three points, but goal-line clearances by Lucas Radebe and Matteo and good saves from Paul Robinson frustrated them.
Gray, understandably, was delighted.
“It was all about battling and scrapping,” he said. “I told the players before the game that I thought we could win it. We’ve got good players here, it’s just a matter of giving them the confidence to play, especially at home. This is the place that can make us safe.”
It was a “psychological boost” to have moved off the bottom of the table, he said.
Claudio Ranieri, the Chelsea manager, was disappointed with the outcome, but full of praise for “fantastic” opponents. “Leeds were desperate to continue the same way after their marvellous win at Charlton,” he said. “Scoring first gave them a lot of confidence, and they worked harder than I thought was possible. We had some good chances, and Robinson made some fantastic saves, but Leeds deserved their point.”
As might have been expected, Chelsea made nearly all the running, with Leeds seeking safety in numbers by keeping 10 men behind the ball and attacking only on the break.
The home side, however, took the lead with a handsome goal, almost out of nothing. Smith won a header against Joe Cole, but Claude Makelele had the danger covered. At least he did until, entirely out of character, he was hustled out of possession by young Pennant, who punished the mistake with ruthless dexterity. Cutting into the penalty area from the right, Pennant embarrassed another Frenchman, William Gallas, who was left trailing in his wake as he advanced to beat Cudicini with a cool-as-you-like finish.
Frank Lampard, supplied by Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink, might have equalised, with a shot which was deflected behind, but the goal had lifted Leeds’s confidence, and they should have doubled the margin after 38 minutes when James Milner, set up by Mark Viduka’s inviting lay-off, had Cudicini at his mercy, but fired culpably over from the edge of the D.
Ranieri responded to the gathering crisis by sending on an extra striker, Hernan Crespo, in place of Cole for the second half, the consequent reshuffle seeing Crespo partner Hasselbaink up front, with Adrian Mutu and Duff supplying them from the flanks. Unfazed, Leeds stuck resolutely to their task, and threatened again when a deflected shot from Viduka wrong-footed Cudicini.
Chelsea cranked up the pressure and thought they were back on terms when a 25-yard shot from Duff went through Radebe’s legs, temporarily unsighting Robinson, but England’s reserve goalkeeper recovered well to make a tumbling save. They were closer still in a pinball sequence in the Leeds goalmouth which saw Mutu, Crespo and Duff let fly with a barrage of shots, only to be thwarted by goalline heroics from Robinson, Radebe and Matteo respectively.
Leeds, on the back foot in “what we have we hold” mode, further bolstered their defensive capability by sending on Seth Johnson and Didier Domi in place of Milner and the exhausted Matteo, but the pressure finally told midway through the second half. Mutu exchanged passes with Hasselbaink before getting in a shot, from near the penalty spot, which Robinson did well to save. Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, the rebound fell obligingly for Duff, who made no mistake from six yards.
Viduka had half a chance to restore Leeds’ lead, but his header, from Ian Harte’s corner, was executed under pressure from Mario Melchiot, and lacked both force and direction. Victory, however, would have been flattering. A point apiece was about right.
Substitutions: Leeds United: Milner (Johnson 63min), McPhail (Domi 64min)
Chelsea: Cole (Crespo h-t), Hasselbaink (Gronkjaer 74min)
Booked: Smith 32, Radebe 41, Matteo 43, Hasselbaink 46, Mutu 88
Referee: M Dean
Attendance: 36,305
