Leeds cruise past hapless Saints

Kewell is congratulated by Harte (l) and Batty (r)

Leeds 2-0 Southampton

Leeds United continued their impressive run of recent form with a comfortable victory over Southampton.

Harry Kewell's first goal in a year and a classy finish from Robbie Keane capped a confident performance from Leeds.

The win moved them into third place in the Premiership and they are now unbeaten in 10 league games.

  Key incidents

2 mins: Leeds midfielder Batty brought down by Richards, but penalty appeal turned down.

10 mins: Leeds 1-0 Southampton. Kewell scores with 25-yard shot.

38 mins: Kewell rounds Jones, but his shot is cleared off line by Richards.

62 mins: Martyn brilliantly saves Petrescu's powerful shot.

72 mins: Leeds 2-0 Southampton. Keane lobs Jones from the edge of the area.

In contrast, Southampton were lethargic and struggled to create chances.

The Saints have struggled to recover from the loss of Glenn Hoddle and caretaker boss Stuart Gray faces a tough task to revitalise his side.

The first-half lived up to form. Leeds, in splendid form in both the Premiership and Champions League in recent weeks, dominated a Southampton side that lost 3-0 to Ipswich on Monday.

The home side had a strong penalty claim after two minutes, when veteran midfielder David Batty went down under a sliding tackle from Southampton skipper Dean Richards inside the area.

The players just didn't perform due to a mixture of things, like the break and Glenn going, but we are not going to make excuses

  Stuart Gray
Southampton caretaker boss

Richards did not seem to get the ball, but referee Jeff Winter nevertheless turned down Leeds' appeals.

The home side were not ruing the decision for long.

After ten minutes Harry Kewell, part of an exciting attacking triumvarate including Mark Viduka and Robbie Keane, gathered a loose pass from Southampton's Chris Marsden.

The Australian moved forward before hitting a low 25-yard drive past helpless Paul Jones in the Southampton goal.

Leeds remained on top for the remainder of the half.

Ian Harte (l) is challenged by Mark Draper

Rio Ferdinand was once again in splendid form for them at the back, Lee Bowyer was lively in midfield and Mark Viduka threatened up front.

Southampton were struggling to get the ball and did not have a meaningful shot on goal before the interval.

Leeds had an excellent chance to extend their lead near half-time.

Kewell broke Southampton's offside trap and managed to round Jones, but lingered too long and saw his shot cleared off the line by Richards.

Leeds were again the better side in the second-half, but were never totally secure because of their slender lead.

It's an amazing run we are now on, but we have to keep it going, with every game remaining now an important one

  David O'Leary
Leeds manager

And after an hour Dan Petrescu almost restored parity when he shot powerfully from the edge of the area, but he was denied by an excellent save from Martyn.

Kewell missed two more excellent chances for Leeds before Keane scored to put the game beyond Southampton.

He gathered an Ian Harte through-ball and broke clear of Saints square backline before lobbing Jones from the edge of the area.

Late on Richards seemed to have a perfectly legitimate goal turned down for offside, but Saints never really deserved to take anything from the game.

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

Southampton: Jones, Dodd, Richards, Lundekvam, Petrescu, Oakley, Marsden, Draper, Bridge, Davies, Beattie. Subs: Rosler, Moss, Pahars, El Khalej, Tessem.

Referee: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).