ON the way to Elland Road there were signs pointing in the opposition direction that said “Doll and Teddy Fair”. What took place inside the stadium was certainly different in tone, but it was not the poisonous event some had feared.

Sure, there were five bookings, two angrily disputed penalty claims and a potentially serious knee ligament injury suffered by Quinton Fortune. But for all the chants heaping scorn on Rio Ferdinand, the fixture proved to be a time bomb that ticked but did not explode. Ferdinand, incidentally, had his best game of the season. The taunts don’t work.

Peace broke out, in part, because each foe was left with something to cling to. For United it was the three points that gave them temporary leadership of the Premiership, excavated so laboriously they might as well have been chiselled from the Pennines.

It was a stodgy performance by United, but the three clear opportunities in the game were all of their making, the last of which was taken by Roy Keane with nine minutes to go.

Leeds took only pride from the afternoon, but given their difficulties that was enough. “They put an awful lot into the game,” said Sir Alex Ferguson, “but we made the chances that mattered.” It was a minor triumph for Peter Reid, who motivated several of his team to play above themselves, not least his defenders, and displayed a tactical insight critics accuse him of lacking.

After the visitors had enjoyed almost uninterrupted possession for the first 20 minutes, Reid withdrew Alan Smith into midfield and suddenly Paul Scholes was choked, and so were United.

“The game plan was working quite well and I felt looking at a couple of United players with 15 minutes to go they didn’t think they’d do it,” said Reid. “My frustration is that when they scored, we had possession and gave it away.”

Keane’s goal was, indeed, painful for Leeds. Ruud van Nistelrooy lost the ball on the rim of their area but Lamine Sakho attempted a dribble upfield when a hoof would have been more appropriate. Van Nistelrooy got back at him and regained possession before feeding Gary Neville, who bent a perfect cross to the far post.

From the thicket of waiting players it was Keane who surged ahead to plant a header past Paul Robinson.

Keane was head, shoulders and proudly puffed chest above all his teammates yesterday, except for Ferdinand, of whom Ferguson said: “I don’t see all the games or all the centre-backs in the country, but I don’t think there could have been a better performance from a centre-half than that.”

Matching Keane’s display was David Batty in the Leeds midfield. Yet while the two old warriors locked broadswords in the centre, younger colleagues skirmished ineffectually on the flanks. Darren Fletcher and Cristiano Ronaldo carry a lot of expectation on their slender shoulders, as do James Milner and Jermaine Pennant.

But Ferguson’s remark regarding his two pups could have applied to any of the four: “They have fabulous talent, but a lot to learn.”

The distaste of Leeds fans towards Ronaldo stemmed from two penalty claims made by the midfielder inside the opening 15 minutes, one when Gary Kelly put a hand on his shoulder and he tipped over, the other when he collapsed after brushing Kelly’s legs. The first, conceivably, was a spot-kick, but Graham Poll decided both were dives and booked Ronaldo after his second tumble.

Batty was booked for body-checking the youngster, and when Ronaldo sent over the free kick, Van Nistelrooy could have scored but headed wide. Just after half-time Van Nistelrooy played Scholes into space inside the Leeds box but his shot was parried by Robinson.

Bound together by Dominic Matteo the home defence was heroic, with Zoumana Camara making a number of crucial blocks. Expending all their energies on containment, Leeds had nothing left for creation. Their one moment came when sheer willpower took Batty past Ferdinand inside United’s box and Gary Neville cleared from in front of Alan Smith.

“Keane was great for the goal,” said Ferguson, “he was all over the place.” He meant it in the best possible way.

Substitutes: Leeds: Milner (Sakho 63min), Viduka (Bridges 68min), Pennant (Lennon 85min)

Manchester Utd: Fortune (O’Shea 25min), Fletcher (Forlan 60min), Ronaldo (Butt 89min)

Booked: Ronaldo 14, Pennant 25, Batty 39, Smith 83, Johnson 90

Referee: G Poll

Attendance: 40,153

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