UNABLE to keep hold of their players, Leeds United proved incapable of keeping a lead either last night. Twice ahead at Stamford Bridge, they succumbed to a gruesome own goal from Dominic Matteo seven minutes from time to cap a period when the damage has been largely self-inflicted.

Those players that Terry Venables still has at the club worked hard enough for him, with Paul Robinson pushing for England recognition despite being beaten three times, but the manager has become used to unexpected blows, many delivered from within his boardroom.

“It has been a traumatic time,” he said after this defeat — so bad that it ranked as good news yesterday when he was told that Robbie Fowler was back in talks about a proposed move to Manchester City. Venables does not want to lose the England forward, but he is willing to sacrifice him if it means that he does not have to sell Jonathan Woodgate to Newcastle United and that deal, if you believe Peter Ridsdale, is off.

The Leeds chairman has told Venables that Woodgate would be staying at Elland Road provided that Fowler moved across the Pennines, although the manager will want to see the transfer window slam shut before he trusts that the January sales are over. He said last night that “there have been times when the communication has not been as good as it should have been”, which was a diplomatic way of saying that Ridsdale may, at times, have been sparing with the truth.

“Yes, it will be a relief to reach February,” Venables said. “It has been frustrating at times and it has been difficult. I don’t want to lose any players but I am resigned to losing Robbie. I am told that if that deal goes through, there will be no others going. I spoke to the chairman today and he said there had been no bid for Woodgate.”

Venables will be mightily relieved if he has kept hold of the central defender and he can take heart from the doggedness of his team at Stamford Bridge, but their counter-attacking was ultimately outdone by Chelsea’s greater adventure. Claudio Ranieri’s team left it late, only drawing level at 2-2 in the eightieth minute and seizing the lead for the first time three minutes later, but they had dominated from the start.

After defeats in three of their previous four Barclaycard Premiership matches, Chelsea needed a victory to keep them on course for a place in the Champions League and they held their nerve last night. Even Jesper Gronkjaer was unusually determined.

Chelsea had been looking forward to playing on their newly laid pitch after the giant sandpit against Charlton Athletic, so you could say it was Sod’s Law that they should fall behind against the run of play. They had been stroking the ball around splendidly for the opening quarter and volleys from Gianfranco Zola and Graeme Le Saux had been blocked when, without warning, the visiting team struck with their first attack.

It was a goal of stylish simplicity as Robinson’s long clearance was flicked on by Mark Viduka. The ball dropped over John Terry and fell invitingly for Harry Kewell, who cushioned the ball on his chest and then poked it past Carlo Cudicini. Picking the ball out of the net was almost the goalkeeper’s first touch.

Leeds had been toiling hard, none more so than Alan Smith, who was engaged with Le Saux in a competition to find the Premiership’s shortest fuse, but they were defending too deep to hang on indefinitely. Only desperate blocks and a horribly snatched finish from Jody Morris stopped Chelsea scoring before the break and Carlton Cole, on for the injured Celestine Babayaro, was unlucky with a run and shot.

It was in the 57th minute that Stamford Bridge was finally eased of its mounting frustration and it was a goal worth waiting for as Frank Lampard cut to the byline and delivered a hanging cross from the right flank. Eidur Gudjohnsen’s bicycle kick might have seemed needlessly self-indulgent had it not been so spectacularly effective, the ball beating Robinson for a goal that will be replayed many times.

Chelsea must have thought they would press on to a comfortable victory, but they had to do it the hard way after falling behind a second time. Viduka had been difficult to contain all evening and, after he won a corner in the 66th minute, Teddy Lucic poked the ball in from close range. The full back had been the game’s least effective player as Gronkjaer tormented him on the right wing.

Back Chelsea came in search of another equaliser and their perseverance was rewarded when Boudewijn Zenden’s cross was cleared by Matteo only as far as Lampard, whose shot cannoned in off the centre half.

Matteo had not played badly, so he despaired two minutes later when, from Gudjohnsen’s clever pass, Lampard scuffed a shot that he could have hacked away with his right leg, but instead deflected into his own net with his left. “Ninety-nine times out of 100 he would have cleared it,” Venables said. Trust his luck that this was the one.

CHELSEA (4-4-2): C Cudicini — W Gallas, M Desailly, J Terry, C Babayaro (sub: C Cole, 36min) — J Gronkjaer, J Morris, F Lampard, G Le Saux — E Gudjohnsen, G Zola (sub: B Zenden, 65). Substitutes not used: E De Goey,M Melchiot, E Petit. Booked: Cole, Le Saux.

LEEDS UNITED (4-4-2): P Robinson — G Kelly, D Matteo, D Mills, T Lucic — A Smith, E Bakke, P Okon (sub: S Johnson, 68), J Wilcox — M Viduka (sub: J Milner, 80), H Kewell. Substitutes not used: N Martyn, I Harte, L Radebe. Booked: Bakke.

Referee: J Winter.