Kewell keeps eye on leaders

In the queue of rubber-neckers peering down the Premiership table at Manchester United, no one will relish what they see more than Leeds, but the time surely arrived yesterday for them to forget about Old Trafford and turn their attentions to Liverpool.

After an absorbing trans-Pennine encounter, David O'Leary's hugely efficient team closed the gap on the Premiership's pacesetters to four points courtesy of Harry Kewell's talent for popping up with goals from midfield and Blackburn's apparent failure to tell the difference between a barn door and a football net.

Had Graeme Souness's profligate side taken a better percentage of their chances it is a safe bet the Christmas party staged in a huge marquee besides Elland Road last night would have had the atmosphere of a wake.

In the end, however, it is fair to assume a toast was raised in Kewell's honour. The Australian took his tally to eight this season with two goals in the space of eight second-half minutes, and even though a defender succeeded where Blackburn's strikers had so chronically failed, Henning Berg setting up a nerve-shredding finale, O'Leary's players are not the type to lose their nerve.

O'Leary's sense of jubilation was tempered last night by the news from Blackburn Royal Infirmary that Oliver Dacourt had dislocated his shoulder after being scythed down by the Blackburn midfielder Tugay - "a shocking tackle" said the Leeds manager - in the build-up to Kewell's second goal.

Otherwise, this will rank as an afternoon of immense satisfaction for a side that had won only one of their previous seven Premiership fixtures and, for a variety of reasons, had eight players unavailable.

Blackburn struck the woodwork twice through Tugay and Matt Jansen and, in a scene so familiar it could have been lifted from Groundhog Day, Souness was left for the umpteenth time this season to bemoan the number of chances his players had missed.

"It really sticks in the throat, because we have played some marvellous stuff against a side tipped as possible champions of England," he said. "On another day we would have won, but it's the same old story: not being able to put the ball in the bloody net."

It was a valid point, yet O'Leary, too, could reflect on a glut of wasted opportunities, and Blackburn's goalkeeper, Brad Friedel, was arguably the hosts' outstanding player, most notably with a superlative, one-handed save from Mark Viduka just before the interval.

Viduka went on to squander a hat-trick, while Robbie Fowler, for all his intelligent runs, is still not on the same wavelength as some of his new colleagues and, much to O'Leary's irritation, was one of five Leeds players booked; referee Andy D'Urso believed he had dived over Berg's challenge.

Fortunately for Leeds, Kewell was not in the mood to be so charitable. On 55 minutes, having survived a rousing period of Blackburn domination, Gary Kelly motored to the by-line and cut back an enticing pass to the spot where Fowler was angling his run. Friedel, again, got his body behind the shot, but the ball bounced off his chest and it was an invitation Kewell, on his trusted left boot, was not about to turn down.

That was the catalyst for Blackburn to press forward again, with Keith Gillespie and Damien Duff making it a problematic day for Ian Harte and Danny Mills. But it was always likely as the game was stretched that Leeds would exploit the gaps in the home defence.

When D'Urso wisely played the advantage rule to Tugay's challenge on Dacourt, Kelly led another break in the 62nd minute and his cross was as inviting as they come. Kewell had timed his run to perfection and, unchallenged, directed his stooping header beyond Friedel.

All of which means Leeds are still clinging doggedly on to Liverpool's coat-tails.

"Manchester United are not doing anything to catch them but we're at least keeping in touch," said O'Leary, adding: "I thought they were going to win, and obviously they did, too, when you look at the players they left out. I would imagine that result ruined a few coupons."

Perhaps, but O'Leary was smiling, all the same.

Blackburn: Friedel, Curtis (Grabbi 61), Berg, Short (Johansson 61), Neill, Gillespie, Tugay, Dunn, Mahon, Jansen, Duff. Subs Not Used: Hughes, Ostenstad, Kelly. Booked: Short. Goals: Berg 83.

LEEDS: Martyn, Mills, Duberry, Ferdinand, Harte, Kewell, Dacourt (Wilcox 66), Batty, Kelly, Fowler, Viduka. Subs Not Used: Keane, McMaster, Richardson, Robinson. Booked: Harte, Kelly, Mills, Batty, Fowler. Goals: Kewell 55, 62.

Referee: A D'Urso (Billericay).