Yorkshire Evening Post 11/10/08
Whites answer critics in style
Defeat is an expensive habit, and the question before kick-off at Elland Road yesterday was whether Leeds United had stumbled unwittingly into a losing trend.
Two minutes at the end of the first half against Brighton was all it took to settle that debate and return perspective to United's season.
Luciano Becchio whipped home a volley 60 seconds before Jermaine Beckford's flying header flew into the net with the help of the crossbar, crushing a bewildered Brighton team. After that flash of activity, Gary McAllister breathed easily again.
United's manager was never likely to allow panic to set in after a tight league defeat to Peterborough and a debacle of a performance in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Rotherham United, but the tepid performances which took Leeds into yesterday's game were not at all to his liking.
McAllister would have been required to looked back to March 2007 to find the last time a team from Elland Road lost three consecutive games, and United's manager knows that he above all other managers in League One is prone to criticism – both the fair variety and the irrational – when results falter.
Leeds held fourth place before Brighton's visit and climbed to third at full-time, and example of why an over-reaction to their recent results would have been as unnecessary as it was unhelpful.
United dominated most of the first half without causing Brighton great anxiety, but the goals which came in the two minutes before the interval were purely the result of the hosts' persistence and commitment to tactics.
If the confidence of McAllister's squad had been dented by back-to-back defeats, it did not show.
Becchio's strike resulted from a scramble inside the box, but Beckford's came at the end of a gloriously flowing move from one end of the field to the other, an intimidating display of potent attacking from United's players.
Their concession of four goals at Rotherham on Wednesday evening had given McAllister cause for serious reflection, but the freedom to drastically change his defence was taken from him by an injury to Paul Telfer. The experienced centre-back – a central cog in the machine which mustered six straight wins last month – was ruled out before kick-off with a groin strain, giving Rui Marques and Lubomir Michalik a chance to write off their inept performance at Don Valley Stadium as a freak occurrence.
Marques in particular struggled desperately to cope with the height and movement of Rotherham's players but, with Paul Huntington also missing from yesterday's squad, McAllister's hands were tied in terms of his alternatives. Marques, to his credit, did him proud.
Elsewhere, McAllister had more scope to be ruthless.
Andy Robinson was relegated to the bench – the most surprising aspect of United's squad – and Jonathan Howson paid for Wednesday's defeat with a similar demotion.
Leeds' first task was to make an authoritative start and galvanise supporters who had been deflated by the back-to-back defeats.
Becchio's run into space on the right wing after five minutes ended with a swinging cross which the jumping Andrew Hughes missed by a matter of inches six yards from goal, and a delivery from Hughes was volleyed at Michel Kuipers by Beckford after good work by Frazer Richardson.
Becchio manufactured another opening in the 12th minute when he pinched possession from Matt Richards and produced a powerful low shot which Tommy Elphick blocked in front of Kuipers, and Dave Livermore – booked after 14 minutes for a sliding tackle on Jonathan Douglas – knocked a Hughes cross behind as Becchio ran in to finish off.
The bursts of creativity where a reassuring indication of Leeds' confidence, but the pressure on Brighton in the first half was not always relentless.
A deflected shot from Joe Anyinsah on 28 minutes was their most memorable effort, but Micky Adams was rarely made to feel overly worried about his side's position until United scored twice in two minutes.
His mood might have changed earlier had Beckford's improvised volley from a chipped Marques' pass found its way inside Kuipers' right-hand post, rather than fading a foot wide, and a low shot from Richardson carried enough power to force Brighton's keeper to anxiously fumble the ball away from his goalline.
Another effort from Richardson – almost identical to his first – brought a one-handed parry from Kuipers, with Fabian Delph thrashing the rebound against the body of Steve Thomson, and a 60-second lull in proceedings while Douglas and Andrew Whing received treatment seemed to catastrophically dull Brighton's concentration.
Becchio started Albion's descent by volleying home at the second attempt after Hughes fed him inside the box, and Brighton were preparing mentally for the interval when Delph's wonderful injury-time cross in injury-time found a finish to match from Beckford, whose header went in off the underside of the bar.
On the restart, Beckford soon rippled the side-netting with a fierce shot, and Marques' header from Neil Kilkenny's corner struck the underside of the bar.
The Angolan's attempt was as close as Leeds came to a third before the 90th minute, when Delph's flick gave Beckford the freedom to skip around Kuipers and slip a shot home.
The scoreline was perfect until Glenn Murray claimed a injury-time consolation after a defensive lapse even McAllister couldn't seriously bemoan.
Leeds United 3 Brighton 1: Becchio and Beckford on target
By Richard Sutcliffe
LEEDS United bounced back from two consecutive defeats to coast to victory against Brighton at Elland Road.
It ensured it was an eventful afternoon for Beckford who was also booked after an altercation involving both sets of players that had been spearked by a horror challenge on man of the match Fabian Delph by Steve Thomson.
Brighton's late consolation came courtesy of Glenn Murphy deep into stoppage time.
Good approach play involving Frazer Richardson and Andrew Hughes created the opportunity for Argentinian Becchio who volleyed into the net after having his initial effort blocked by a defender on 45 minutes.
Then, just moments later, another fine move was rounded off by Beckford who headed past Michel Kuipers.
United made six changes to the starting line-up beaten in midweek by Rotherham United.
Alan Sheehan suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury in the defeat at Rotherham on Tuesday night and is out.
Richardson, Beckford, Jonathan Douglas, Becchio, Fabian Delph and Aidan White all returned but one notable absentee in central defence was Paul Telfer with the veteran missing out due to a hamstring strain.
United made a good start to the game with Beckford volleying just wide, with Becchio clearing off the line at the other end.
