Leeds United were denied their first win at Old Trafford in twenty years when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer headed home in the 88th minute to cancel out Mark Viduka's 76th minute opener and earn Manchester United a 1-1 draw. In a typically close and passionate encounter, David O'Leary’s table-toppers looked set to claim a memorable victory at the 'Theatre of Dreams' until the super-sub’s timely intervention, and they have now been overtaken at the top of the Premiership by Aston Villa, who beat Botlon 3-2 at Villa Park.
The champions might even have won in stoppage time but for the vigilance of Leeds goalkeeper Nigel Martyn, who made a terrific save to keep out Ruud van Nistelrooy's injury time header. However, the visitors held on to keep their unbeaten league run intact and consign their hosts to another draw, which means they have equalled their worst ever start to a Premiership season.
O'Leary was able to name a full-strength, unchanged side, in stark contrast to last season when he had an entire team missing for this fixture. United were not in such a strong position and once again captain Roy Keane and Andy Cole were missing through injury. David Beckham tested Martyn as early as the second minute with a trademark free-kick, and despite further efforts from Giggs, Beckham and Van Nistelrooy, United failed to find the breakthrough.
Viduka almost opened his account when he could only hit the side-netting from close range on the half hour, and despite another Beckham strike which hit the post from a Giggs cross, the sides remained deadlocked at the interval. The game exploded into life on the hour when Beckham cut down Robbie Keane and the Leeds striker responded by getting up and pushing the England skipper over. Referee Dermot Gallagher restored order and booked Beckham and the United fans went wild when he let Keane off with just a caution. Keane then curled a free-kick home only for Gallagher to disallow the effort because he had not signalled for the set-piece to be taken.
With both managers making changes in search of a breakthrough, Leeds took the lead in the 76th minute, when Harry Kewell fed Ian Harte and his left wing cross found Viduka at the back post and the striker shot home from six yards out. But, with just 100 seconds of normal time remaining, Solskjaer came up trumps once again when he headed home Giggs' left wing cross to score United's equaliser.
Filed by Shane Murray
