Leeds turned the clock back to the start of the decade as they gave Liverpool a stern examination in the Carling Cup last night.
A second-half goal from French striker David Ngog eventually settled the third-round tie in the Barclays Premier League side's favour but it was the fallen Yorkshire giants who took most of the plaudits.
The League One leaders, roared on by the majority of a raucous 38,168 crowd, dominated large parts of game and spurned a number of good opportunities.
Striker Jermaine Beckford endured a particularly frustrating night with several clear-cut chances wasted and a goal disallowed.
It was Liverpool's first visit to Elland Road since Leeds were relegated from the top flight in 2004 but the passion of the occasion rekindled memories of a once intense rivalry.
'The atmosphere was fantastic, Leeds were really good,' admitted Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez. 'They are good team with good players and they worked really hard.'
'We worked hard and I feel we had our chances. We won with a lot of players not playing and I am really pleased with my team, with the squad.
'I think we showed today we can manage with different players and for the rest of the season it is important to know you have players who can come in.'
Leeds boss Simon Grayson was pleased with his side's effort and felt Beckford was unlucky to have an 11th-minute tap-in ruled out for offside.
Grayson said: 'I'm hugely proud of them. I thought they were excellent from start to finish. We certainly matched them and on another night we might have got the victory our performance deserved.
'We had good opportunities but over the course of it maybe we did not get the breaks we deserved.
'I felt Jermaine was level with the centre-half for the goal. I'm loath to criticise but when you look he was level and the goal should have stood.'
There was one other talking point after Mascherano's arm connected with Beckford but both managers played down the incident.
