Viduka and Smith sink Charlton

Viduka gave Leeds the lead after 12 seconds.

Charlton 1-2 Leeds United

Two strikes at the beginning of each half were enough to give Leeds the points against Charlton and boost their hopes of a Champions League berth.

Charlton battled hard throughout but the Leeds front two of Alan Smith and Mark Viduka gave the visitors the edge and gave the home side their first Premiership defeat of 2001.

The game got off to an astonishing start with a goal after 11 seconds, one of the fastest in Premiership history.

Straight from the kick-off, David Batty laid the ball off to Ian Harte who hoisted a long speculative ball forward that seemed to pose little danger to Charlton's backline

But Alan Smith rose to flick the ball into the path of Mark Viduka, who took one touch before steering a precise shot past Sasa Ilic to give Leeds the lead.

The driving rain and sodden pitch meant conditions were treacherous for defenders but ideal for entertaining, error-strewn football.

We got the early goal at the start of the second half and from then on we controlled the game and deserved to win

  David O'Leary

With Viduka and Smith, preferred to Robbie Keane, and Kewell on the left, Leeds looked capable of capitalising on the slightest error.

But Charlton were unbowed and hit back with a direct and simple equaliser that would not have done keeper Nigel Martyn many favours in front of the watching England manager Sven Goran-Eriksson.

Kishishev floated a long, seemingly harmless free-kick to into the Leeds box but Martyn misjudged as he came to punch it clear and Shaun Bartlett stole in to head the ball into the net.

As the excitement rose, so did tempers on the pitch, resulting in a series of full-blooded challenges.

Simmering tempers

Viduka and Smith went in the book for Leeds, while Johansson was cautioned for Charlton and a series of off-the-ball clashes threatened to turn the game into a nasty affair.

In the 31st minute, Bartlett should have given the home side the lead when he was through on the Leeds goal with only Martyn to beat, but the England man atoned for his earlier error with good low block.

Simmering tempers overheated again five minutes before half-time when Mills' wreckless challenge saw a number of players become involved in a melee and the right-back became the seventh player to go in the book.

The start of the second half was as sensational as the first.

I'm disappointed because we have matched a team of Leeds' calibre and have got nothing to show for it

  Alan Curbishley

First Gary Parker should have put Charlton ahead within 30 seconds but his point-blank shot was blocked and Leeds broke swiftly.

Kewell ran half the length of the field before supplying Smith with a perfectly weighted pass and the striker finished superbly from the edge of the box with a rasping drive 44 seconds after the restart.

The game's tempo dipped slightly as Leeds took control and their passing seemed the most assured of the two sides.

Charlton came closest to drawing level when Jensen's thundering volley from the edge of the box whistled just over the bar as the game entered the last 15 minutes.

Bowyer could have settled it for Leeds with three minutes left when he was played through by Kewell's magical backheel but Ilic bravely blocked his shot.

Charlton thought they should have had a penalty in the last minute when Johansson went down in the box but the ref waved away the home side's desperate appeals.

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Charlton: Ilic, Rufus, Fish, Todd, Powell, Kishishev, Parker, Jensen, Robinson, Johansson, Bartlett. Subs: Kinsella, Brown, Svensson, Salako, Caig.

Leeds: Martyn, Mills, Ferdinand, Matteo, Harte, Batty, Dacourt, Bowyer, Kewell, Smith, Viduka. Subs: Kelly, Keane, Robinson, Wilcox, Burns.

Referee: C Wilkes (Gloucester)