The game of leapfrog at the top of the Premiership continues although until the fourth minute of stoppage time here yesterday it appeared that Leeds United had missed their turn. Then one rash lunge by a Derby County defender, followed by Ian Harte's resounding penalty, restored David O'Leary's precocious young side to first place.
Considering that Leeds had only returned home from Sofia, following their 2-1 UEFA Cup defeat by Spartak Moscow, in the early hours of Friday morning, the victory was more than usually gratifying. Yet had Horacio Carbonari, Derby's Argentine centre-back, not upended Harry Kewell at that late stage they would have gone home rueing an inability to express an overall superiority in terms of goals.
This was Derby's seventh league defeat in nine home matches and they remain in the bottom three with a relegation fight on their hands. Yesterday Jim Smith and his players would have been amply satisfied with a scoreless draw.
The introduction of Smith's latest signings - Giorgi Kinkladze, on loan from Ajax, and Craig Burley, bought from Celtic - gave Derby marginally more subtlety and momentum in midfield without adding weight to a feathery presence near goal. But at least Pride Park warmed to Kinkladze's readiness to run at opponents with the ball, which for a brief period in the second-half disturbed an otherwise unruffled Leeds defence.
For much of the game the starkest contrast between the teams lay in the speed with which Leeds played the ball around compared to Derby's more studious movements. With Eirik Bakke and Steve McPhail quickly establishing a solid base in midfield for Kewell's ability to slice through defences and Lee Bowyer's alert exploitation of space it was difficult, at halftime, to see how Derby could contribute much more to the match than resolute defending and a lot of running.
Yet Leeds, for all their possession and territorial advantage, had created little by way of clearcut scoring chances. Michael Bridges, a clever striker able to bring others into a movement, found it hard to outwit Derby's three-man defence while Darren Huckerby, making a rare start for Leeds, offered him only erratic support.
Meanwhile, Kinkladze had worked his way through the outer layers of Leeds's cover before exchanging passes with Dean Sturridge and then seeing his shot blocked by Nigel Martyn. That moment offered Pride Park hope and when Martyn tipped a header from Steve Elliott over the bar, following Kinkladze's centre, Derby sensed that the afternoon might hold something for them after all.
The departure of Kinkladze with a tight calf muscle brought on Tony Dorigo, which at least gave Smith's side a better balance on the left, and as the match reached the last 15 minutes Leeds seemed to have lost their earlier grip on events. Alan Smith did dispossess Mart Poom as he prepared to go roll-abouts in the Derby penalty area but was a fraction too early, the goal being disallowed because the goalkeeper still had a hand on the ball.
Manchester United's leadership of the Premier League looked safe but just when it seemed that the afternoon would remain goal-less Kewell set off on one last run and was practically past Carbonari when the Argentine brought him down. Harte's left-foot dispatched the penalty past Poom and Derby were done for.
The losing manager swore the penalty should not have been given. `He didn't touch him,' said Smith, although the television replay suggested Carbonari had clipped Kewell's trailing leg.
Derby: Poom, Laursen (Prior 64), Carbonari, Elliott, Delap, Burley, Powell, Kinkladze (Dorigo 75), Johnson, Sturridge, Burton (Christie 81). Subs Not Used: Hoult, Nimni. Booked: Johnson, Laursen, Prior.
Leeds: Martyn, Kelly, Radebe, Woodgate, Harte, Bakke, McPhail (Jones 83), Bowyer, Kewell, Bridges, Huckerby (Smith 77). Subs Not Used: Robinson, Mills, Duberry. Booked: Bakke, Kelly, Smith. Goals: Harte 90 pen.
Referee: P Alcock (Halstead).
