Rampant Leeds stun Bradford

Mark Viduka nets the opening goal for Leeds

Leeds 6-1 Bradford

Leeds bounced back from their midweek Champions League exit to keep alive their hopes of playing in the competition again next season.

David O'Leary's side tore apart Bradford time and time again, leaving the visiting players to lose their cool in the Yorkshire sunshine.

The Bantams may have lacked the fighting spirit to compete with Leeds, but some of their players were punching beyond their weight, unfortunately among themselves.

Stuart McCall and Andy Myers took out their frustrations on one another just before the break, leaving the former sporting a nasty cut beneath his left eye.

  Key moments at Elland Road

14 mins: Mark Viduka heads Leeds 1-0 up

19 mins: Ian Harte's free-kick makes it 2-0

22 mins: Ashley Ward pulls a goal back for Bradford

27 mins: Eirik Bakke makes it 3-1 after Smith's pass

38 mins: Smith makes it 4-1 as the misery piles up for Bradford

43 mins: It's 5-1 as Harry Kewell nets

84 mins: Lee Bowyer completes the scoring to make it 6-1

By that point Leeds were already 5-1 ahead thanks to goals from Viduka, Harte, Bakke, Smith and Kewell.

The home players were clearly enjoying being given the freedom of the Elland Road pitch to express their talents.

In need of a victory to maintain their chances of finishing in the coveted third place Leeds were set on their way by Mark Viduka after 14 minutes, following a lively start by both sides.

Ian Harte whipped in a right-footed cross from the Leeds left and Viduka threw himself full length to beat Davison to the ball at the near post with a diving header.

Davison was a late replacement for Gary Walsh, injured in the warm-up, and the former Millwall keeper was not relishing his opportunity to try and impress.

He was beaten again on 19 minutes as Ian Harte curled a beautiful free-kick over the top of a Bradford wall that Davison appeared to still be lining up.

It marked Harte's tenth goal of the season for Leeds, a great tally for a left-back and his team-mates all over the pitch were now keen to get in on the act.

Alan Smith nets Leeds' fourth

Before they could though Ashley Ward gave the Bantams brief heart as he spun on a neat pass from Eoin Jess and drilled the ball inside Martyn's near post.

Normal service was resumed five minutes later as Bakke restored Leeds' two-goal advantage following a pass by Smith.

And the young striker who was sent off against Valencia in midweek added the fourth on 38 minutes as Viduka headed a deep Danny Mills cross back into Smith's path.

Davison first half misery was finally complete when Martyn's long kick found Kewell isolated against Ian Nolan and after juggling the ball a couple of times the Australian eased his way into the area to make it 5-1.

Then came the amazing confrontation between McCall and Myers which was sure to have raised the temperature in the visitors dressing room at half-time even higher.

Both players kept their places for the second half as Bradford put up a more spirited showing that saw Martyn brilliantly deny both Jess and Ward.

But the Bradford defence continued its generous performance with Kewell beating four men before firing over and then Harte having a second strike ruled out for offside.

Lee Bowyer eventually added a sixth, six minutes from time as Wayne Jacobs failed to cut out Harte's cross and could only watch from the floor as Bowyer netted.

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

Bradford: Davison, Jacobs, Halle, Nolan, Myers, Lawrence, Whalley, McCall, Jess, Ward, Carbone. Subs: Blake, Walsh, Locke, Grant, Kerr.

Referee: A D'Urso (Billericay)