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BBC Sport's Ian Brown
"A quite fantastic night for Leed's"
 real 14k

Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale
"We can go to Madrid and have a party"
 real 14k

Leeds boss David O'Leary
"We looked the fresher team"
 real 14k

Goalkeeper Nigel Martyn
"It's a tremendous achievement"
 real 14k

Goalscorer Mark Viduka
"We combined very well"
 real 14k

Ray Fell of Leeds supporters club
"They're surpassing our expectations in Europe"
 real 14k

banner Wednesday, 21 February, 2001, 21:37 GMT
Leeds through to quarters
Leeds striker Alan Smith
Smith: First goals since 5 December
Anderlecht 1-4 Leeds United

Leeds became the first British side to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 4-1 demolition of Belgian champions Anderlecht.

The Yorkshire side once again raised their game on the European stage as they inflicted a crushing defeat on a club which had not lost at home in 21 games.


It's absolutely fantastic - I am so proud of my players
  Leeds manager David O'Leary

Manchester United, PSV Eindhoven and Lazio had all been sent packing from the Constant Van Den Stock stadium but Leeds refused to be intimidated.

Their fans were purring after a superb first-half performance which saw David O'Leary's men race to a 3-0 lead inside 40 minutes.

Alan Smith scored his first goals since Leeds' other famous European triumph, a 1-0 win against Lazio in Rome, either side of a Mark Viduka header.

Anderlecht's Czech striker Jan Koller sparked brief hopes of a comeback with a second-half header but Ian Harte's 80th minute penalty sealed a famous European win.

  Match action
7 mins: Bakke's shot tipped over the bar by Milojevic
12 mins: Radzinski blasts narrowly wide from 20 yards
13 mins: Smith tucks away Viduka's cross to put Leeds ahead
33 mins: Viduka heads Leeds into a 2-0 lead
38 mins: Smith scores his second and Leeds' third
40 mins: Koller and Stoica both miss half chances to pull Anderlecht back into the game
57 mins: Ferdinand's shot is blocked on the line
65 mins: Martyn dives at the feet of Bart Goor
75 mins: Koller pulls one back for Anderlecht
80 mins: Harte makes it 4-1 with a well-struck penalty

Lazio's 2-2 draw with Group D rivals Real Madrid mean Leeds are assured of a place in the last eight.

Missing Lee Bowyer, Jonathan Woodgate, Robbie Keane and the half-fit Harry Kewell (who played the final seven minutes) one might have believed O'Leary would play it cautiously.

Far from it.

With David Batty holding the fort in midfield, Olivier Dacourt and Eirik Bakke were free to provide the finesse.

Mark Viduka and Alan Smith had been having problems finding the net
Who said they couldn't score?

But it was Leeds' front pair who excelled.

Viduka has been criticised by some Leeds fans since his move from Celtic but the Australian showed his worth in a devastating first-half performance.

He set up Smith for the opening goal, holding the ball up long enough for a measured cut-back which his partner had simply to side-foot home.

Bakke's presence at the near post created the space for Smith and it was a slick move between Dacourt and Batty which created Leeds' second.

Dominic Matteo hit a wonderful first-time cross from the left flank which Viduka planted decisively in the top corner following a giant far-post leap.

Leeds striker Mark Viduka (right)
Viduka: Scored one goal and made another

Four minutes later Smith made it 3-0 with a sublime piece of finishing from a Batty through ball.

Before this match he not scored for 11 weeks but he looked like a striker at the top of his game as he produced to deftest of chips to deceive Zvonko Milojevic.

Leeds oozed confidence going forward and the back four provided their spine.

Skipper Lucas Radebe made a handful of timely interventions and Rio Ferdinand was equally impressive.

The £18m man almost scored for Leeds but his second-half blast was blocked on the line by Koller, making up for a mistake by Milojevic.

Mark Viduka
Viduka's first goal in nine games

Nigel Martyn had been largely a spectator until Anderlecht's late revival.

Bart Goor sliced a simple chance wide but Koller made no mistake after Martyn left his goal unattended coming for a corner.

Koller's headed goal was enough to spark a brief roaring charge from the Belgians, Martyn producing a wonderful relex save to keep the scores at 3-1.

But any hope of a comeback was snuffed out when Viduka was fouled in the box by Anderlecht skipper Glen De Boeck and Ian Harte rattled in the penalty.


Teams:

Anderlecht: Milojevic, Ilic, De Boeck, Crasson, Vanderhaeghe, Goor, Dheedene, Baseggio, Stoica, Radzinski, Koller. Subs: Carlier, Van Diemen, Hasi, Pirard, Dindane, Youla, Traore.

Leeds: Martyn, Harte, Radebe, Ferdinand, Mills, Matteo, Batty, Dacourt, Bakke, Smith, Viduka. Subs: Robinson, Kewell, Wilcox, Burns, Maybury.

Referee: Rune Pederson (Norway)

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