GORDON STRACHAN ascribed the longevity of his playing career to munching a banana a day. There must still be some of the old skins lying around Elland Road because every time Leeds are in the place they slip up. Beaten in five previous home league games this, at least, was not a defeat, but it sure felt like one. Leeds had their hands on three precious points, only for two to spill from their grasp.

Southampton’s equaliser came with just a minute of normal time left and provided something to think about for those who clamour for Paul Robinson to replace David Seaman for England. Young goalkeepers can be just as succeptible to freak long-range efforts as old ones. Fabrice Fernandes’ shooting had caused Robinson difficulties throughout but when the Frenchman addressed a free kick on the right touchline, 40 yards in a diagonal line from goal, it was crossing he had in mind. Yet the ball curled over every Southampton head and eluded Danny Mills before dropping and kicking off the turf past the startled keeper.

Fernandes ripped his shirt off and cavorted, bare-chested, even though the air was icy. Vindication underpinned his joy. Southampton deserved something for the quality of their attacking in the first half, even if Leeds were superior in the second.

Terry Venables, who had a family Christmas party to go to, rushed to catch the 5.40pm train to London and thus avoided another post-mortem with the press. But he will have felt deathly on the journey and it would have been even worse had Robinson, gaining partial redemption, not touched another Fernandes curler on to the post in stoppage time.

It was particularly galling given the opportunity to build on Monday’s victory over Bolton, his side’s only one in seven games, and Venables is going to be lonely this Christmas. The Boxing Day game against Sunderland now takes on vast significance.

Leeds began with such purpose, as if still wired on the adrenaline gained from the Bolton win, but any stimulant disappears after a temporary buzz. Southampton were pinned back during the first 12 minutes, but needed just one attack to end Leeds’s high.

It was a simple set piece, a corner, but when Ferndandes tapped the ball to Matt Oakley and he darted inside Harry Kewell, the home players froze in apprehension. Oakley chipped to the far post where Brett Ormerod leapt amid a tableau of static defenders but grazed the bar.

Leeds remained inert and, a minute later, Wayne Bridge leathered a left-footed shot just wide. Then Fernandes cut in from the right and, with little backlift, hit a drive of surprising force that Robinson parried untidily. Ormerod was first to the rebound and chipped to Chris Mardsen, who headed in, and replays brought into question referee Chris Foy’s decision to rule it out for offside.

Leeds matched the visitors for effort in the first half but seldom sharpness. Alan Smith, working particularly hard in midfield, would break to support an attack but his teammates passed the ball too ponderously to ever find him. Southampton came forward with much more pace and punch. Oakley fed Paul Telfer on the overlap and he cut back for Ormerod to hook his foot round the ball and send it fizzing against the bar. James Beattie missed a clearer chance inside the six-yard box. He only had to pass the ball past Robinson, but played it against the keeper’s legs.

Leeds’ attacking changed when Mark Viduka came on. Though Harry Kewell and Viduka do not speak, the pair, having played together since their teens for Australia, share a common footballing language and as well as the burly menace Viduka provided, his arrival brought more from his compatriot.

Burglars put on gloves so as not to make fingerprints Kewell, in black ones, had slipped through the previous 52 minutes of play without leaving any evidence of his presence. With Viduka afield he immediately rammed a left- footed drive at Antti Niemi from a corner then shot right footed after Jason Wilcox crossed, forcing Bridge to block on the line. The ball ricocheted against the post and Claus Lundekvam cleared.

It encouraged Leeds to recover their early optimism and, although Beattie and Michael Svensson went close with headers, Southampton were under increasing pressure. From a Wilcox corner Jonathan Woodgate headed against the post and the ball came back out to Kewell who, having just had a left-foot drive saved by Niemi, this time beat the keeper when he shot through a thicket of bodies into the far corner.

How Leeds fans wanted that goal to be the headline maker rather than the footnote, but they went away grumbling. “Everyone knows how much I feel about Leeds but I’ll leave all the talking about them to the pundits,” said Strachan. A growing number at Elland Road would like to see him back as manager. “We respect teams, but we’re confident of scoring against anybody when we play our best,” he said. “My side have a nice glow about them right now.”

Leeds (4-4-2): Robinson; Mills, Woodgate, Lucic, Harte; Kelly, Smith, Okon, Wilcox; Fowler (Viduka 53min), Kewell

Southampton (4-4-2): Niemi; Telfer, Lundekvam, M Svensson, Bridge; Fernandes, Oakley, Delap, Marsden (A Svensson, 83min); Beattie, Ormerod (Tessem 62min)

Scorers: Leeds: Kewell 74

Southampton: Fernandes 89

Referee: C Foy

Attendance: 36,687

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