Leeds Utd - 3 Manchester City - 0Prosecution lawyers will begin arriving at Manchester City this week, just when the club might be better employed recruiting an expert in defence.
Nobody expected City to combine litigation and relegation in one season but, for as long as the manager Kevin Keegan plays into the hands of greater tactical minds such as Terry Venables, it could be a close thing.
Keegan's first game in the Premiership since leaving Newcastle early in 1997 epitomised everything that is beguiling and bewildering about his approach to football. Passion, flair, excitement. Everything, in fact, except a compos mentis defence.
Fundamentally City's return to the top flight was an unsuccessful one because, for all their invention, they suddenly lost the scoring habit that helped them accumulate more than 100 goals in the first division last season.
Perhaps Terry Venables was forgetting temporarily the identity of the opposing manager with his assessment it had been "an open game, far too open for any coach". Keegan was next into the interview room, closing a defiant speech by announcing he "would like to take part in a lot more games like that".
Venables had reckoned City's reckless commitment to attack would leave them short-staffed in defence and, once his players had sussed out their opponents, they merely sat back and picked them off on the break.
Venables appears to have just the right balance, from left to right, front to back. Nick Barmby's arrival on the left has pushed Harry Kewell into a more advanced position, just behind Mark Viduka in the manager's 4-3-2-1 "Christmas tree" formation. Danny Mills and Alan Smith offer the same width and penetration on the right while Lee Bowyer dominated midfield.
Steve Howey had a torrid time before succumbing to a groin injury. Barmby had, after all, been third favourite behind Howey and the goalkeeper Carlo Nash to reach the deflected cross from which he gave Leeds the lead.
Then, with Howey in clear discomfort, Viduka spun away from the defender to pick his spot for the second. Granted, the delicate pitch-wedge from Robbie Keane for Leeds's third goal gave the score a deceptive look, but the paradox is that it might be for the long-term good of City if it leaves Keegan pondering whether to adapt his methods.
Guardian Service
LEEDS UTD: Robinson, Mills, Radebe, Matteo, Harte, Bakke, Barmby (Johnson 77), Bowyer, Kewell, Viduka (Keane 70), Smith. Subs Not Used: Martyn, Kelly, Dacourt. Booked: Bowyer. Goals: Barmby 15, Viduka 45, Keane 80.
MANCHESTER CITY: Nash, Jihai (Huckerby 59), Howey (Dunne 45), Distin, Wright-Phillips, Jensen, Horlock, Foe, Benarbia, Berkovic (Shuker 63), Anelka. Subs Not Used: Flowers, Goater. Booked: Jensen.
Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).
