SOCCER: Man Utd ... 2 Leeds ... 1 If, as Alex Ferguson alleges, Arsenal are "over-confident" about their chances of retaining the Premiership title, Arsene Wenger's self-assurance should not blur his sense of caution.
While Manchester United produced a disjointed and occasionally scruffy display last night, the gap at the top of the table has been cut to five points.
In doing so, United will also have reminded Arsenal of their durability in these battles of nerve. Yet, having threatened to overwhelm their opponents in the early exchanges, it needed a late winner from an unlikely source to ease their own nerves after losing their thread in the second half.
Wenger's six years in England have given him sufficient knowledge of Ferguson to suspect his latest jibes are a ploy to undermine Arsenal at a critical stage of the season. But if United really want to worry Wenger, it is far better that their players do it.
Nothing will encourage Wenger so much as Ferguson's players creating problems of their own doing. Ferguson has already pointed out that United have let slip 18 points in their derby matches this season. Yet by half-time the prospect of Leeds adding to that tally was looking increasingly remote and Old Trafford was consumed by the sense that this would be a chastening experience for their opponents.
The attacking thrusts from David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Juan Sebastian Veron possessed width, guile and penetration and a 20th-minute goal soothed their nerves and diluted the sense of trepidation that accompanies being involved in a game of catch-up.
Leeds, deprived of half a dozen players through injury or suspension, had been so unremarkable throughout that opening period that it was safe for Fabien Barthez to watch the game from a vantage point 30 yards off his goal-line. There was an air of inevitability, therefore, when one of United's rapier passing movements dissected the visiting defence.
John O'Shea and Beckham, in particular, were relishing the amount of space afforded to them on the right flank and it was from one of their forays that United took the lead, albeit in slightly fortunate circumstances.
Paul Robinson will rue his lack of fortune, having anticipated Beckham's cross and partially blocked Nicky Butt's header. To the anguish of Leeds the ball spun off the goalkeeper, struck Lucas Radebe as he tried to fend off Ruud van Nistelrooy and dropped over the goal-line.
The paradox of a one-sided first half was that the most illuminating moment came from Leeds, specifically Alan Smith. From outside the penalty area, his left-foot shot was destined for the top corner until Barthez saved majestically.
That apart, Leeds played as though drained of confidence, scarcely venturing forward to probe Roy Keane's prowess as a centre-half or any failings in Rio Ferdinand that inside knowledge might allow them.
It is not just those Leeds fans embittered by Ferdinand's trans-Pennine switch who have begun to suspect that the most expensive defender in the world is also the most over-rated. But Ferdinand gave one of his more proficient, error-free displays, as if determined to excel against his former employers.
Perhaps Leeds should have been less passive, particularly considering Ferguson's obvious disquiet in the wake of Sunday's League Cup final defeat by Liverpool.
Gary Neville was relegated to the bench as was Ryan Giggs eight days after slaloming through the Juventus defence in the Stadio delle Alpi, earning the headline Fantastico Giggs in La Gazetta dello Sport. Giggs paid for a poor display in Cardiff although he came on in the second half for Quinton Fortune, the man who had replaced him.
Certainly Leeds showed far more self-belief after the interval, forcing their first spell of intense pressure. Ferguson's growing unease will have been exacerbated by the sight of Veron limping off just before the hour and, within four minutes, Leeds's best period of the match was rewarded by an equaliser.
Typically, Smith was involved at the outset, winning a free-kick off Phil Neville and Ian Harte's crisp delivery was headed in by Mark Viduka from eight yards.
At that stage United looked devoid of ideas. But with 10 minutes left Beckham lofted a free-kick into the penalty area and Mikael Silvestre was allowed a free header to beat Robinson.
Guardian Service
MAN UTD: Barthez, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Keane, Silvestre, Beckham, Butt, Veron (Phil Neville 56), Fortune (Giggs 64), Scholes, van Nistelrooy (Gary Neville 89). Subs Not Used: Carroll, Fletcher. Booked: Scholes. Goals: Radebe 20 og, Silvestre 79.
LEEDS: Robinson, Mills, Lucic, Radebe, Harte, Barmby (Milner 85), Seth Johnson, Okon, Bravo (McPhail 85), Viduka, Smith. Subs Not Used: Martyn, Cansdell-Sherriff, Kilgallon. Booked: Smith. Goals: Viduka 64.
Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).
