Leeds maintain Gray impetus - Telegraph 22/12/03

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Telegraph | Sport | Leeds maintain Gray impetus Man City (0) 1 Leeds Utd (1) 1 Shortly before 8.30 last night Eddie Gray would have raised a glass at his daughter Natalie's wedding. Not to toast the bride and groom but to mark the latest significant step forward of the Leeds United team who were in a dreadful mess when he inherited them from Peter Reid five games ago. Mark Viduka's fifth goal of the season enabled the absent Gray to savour his fourth reward from that short tenure - a precious point which inches them closer to Premiership safety as the teams around them move in the opposite direction. Manchester City are one of those teams and would have slipped even closer to the danger zone but for substitute Antoine Sibierski's late equaliser which quelled growing discontent among the home faithful. Gray was clearly at the City of Manchester Stadium in spirit as his players continue to respond encouragingly to his new approach to the daunting task of arresting the decline of a famous club. The satisfactory outcome here also raises morale among shareholders for today's annual meeting. At the start of the month that was shaping up to be an angry affair but with chairman John McKenzie now out of the firing line the long-suffering supporters may instead decide on displaying seasonal goodwill towards their beleaguered leaders. Viduka, who many believe will be the next big name to leave the financially-troubled Yorkshire club, was able to celebrate his 150th appearance for them in style thanks to some appalling defending by David Sommeil, City's centre back, midway through what had been a tense first half. A routine clearance looked Sommeil's for the taking as the Frenchman beat Viduka to a hopeful through ball by young James Milner but Sommeil got in a terrible tangle and the Austalian striker was able to take the ball round David Seaman and stroke it into an empty net. Kevin Keegan, the City manager watching helplessly from the touchline, held his head in disbelief as Gray's assistant, Kevin Blackwell, jumped for unexpected joy in his one and only match at the helm. That simple finish enabled Viduka and his anxious Leeds team-mates to forget his alarming miss from the visitors' first attack. Again Milner was the provider with a curling free-kick from the left which eluded everybody in a crowded penalty area before finding its way through to Leeds' lone striker. All it required was a far-post flick past Seaman but Viduka failed to make contact from two yards out. City, who were desperately trying to come out of a disturbing slump, should also have made their mark before the interval but were guilty of equally weak finishing. Their biggest culprit was American midfielder Claudio Reyna, who was cleverly picked out in front of goal by Nicolas Anelka. A scuffed shot from 10 yards which skidded past goalkeeper Paul Robinson lacked the pace to beat the covering Michael Duberry. After the break, Robbie Fowler should have scored against his former club with a header from a Shaun Wright-Phillips cross but the exLiverpool striker remains a shadow of his former self in front of goal and saw his attempt loop a few feet wide to the relief of the stranded Robinson. Leeds' accomplished England goalkeeper was beaten again a couple of minutes later when England under-21 midfielder Joey Barton let fly with a splendid low drive but the inside of an upright came to the visitors' rescue. With Anelka also heading over from a promising situation and Richard Dunne heading into the arms of Robinson, the Leeds rearguard was stretched to the limit in preserving their hard-earned advantage. That resistance was nearly broken when Reyna, receiving the ball fortuitously off the heel of Anelka, shaved the outside of a post with a shot on the run and Anelka headed over from eight yards from a Sun Jihai cross. Keegan made a triple substitution - the departure of Barton bringing more protests than those of Steve McManaman and Fowler - in a desperate attempt to salvage something from another miserable occasion and one of the trio, Sibierski, did the trick eight minutes from time with a splendid header from Sun Jihai's cross. Man City: Seaman, Jihai, Sommeil, Dunne, Distin, Wright-Phillips, Reyna, Barton (Sibierski 71), McManaman (Macken 70), Fowler (Wanchope 70), Anelka. Subs Not Used: Stuhr-Ellegaard, Tarnat. Goals: Sibierski 82. Leeds: Robinson, Kelly, Radebe (McPhail 74), Duberry, Harte, Pennant (Bridges 81), Smith, Batty (Kilgallon 90), Matteo, Milner, Viduka. Subs Not Used: Carson, Morris. Booked: Duberry, Batty, Bridges. Goals: Viduka 24. Att: 47,126 Ref: G Barber (Hertfordshire)

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