Chelsea see off Leeds

Leeds striker Alan Smith holds off a challenge

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Leeds 0-2 Chelsea

Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen scored two excellent second-half goals to send Leeds crashing out of the Worthington Cup.

For Leeds boss David O'Leary, the arrival of Robbie Fowler probably cannot come soon enough.

His side enjoyed most of the possession but failed to create many chances and lacked a cutting edge.

In contrast, Chelsea, and Gudjohnsen in particular, were ruthless when opportunities arose.

It was an important win for Chelsea, not for me

Claudio Ranieri
Chelsea manager

The Blues' central defensive partnership of William Gallas and John Terry was excellent and Graeme Le Saux turned in a lively performance in an unaccustomed role on the left side of midfield.

Both Leeds and Chelsea fielded very strong sides.

O'Leary made only one change from team that drew 1-1 with Aston Villa at the weekend, with Olivier Dacourt coming in for the ineligible Seth Johnson in central midfield.

Chelsea brought in Celestine Babayaro, Sam Dalla Bona and Sinisa Jokanovic after the disappointing draw with Blackburn.

Matteo injury

The first-half was a tepid affair, unlike the fiery encounter between the side in October.

There were few chances, but Leeds appealed strongly for a penalty close to the interval when Robbie Keane went down under a challenge from Terry inside the area.

The Chelsea defender appeared to clip Keane's heels, but referee Jeff Winter waved play on.

The visitors were threatening on the break and Gudjohnsen hit the post with a low left-footed shot after Ian Harte had missed a header inside the Leeds area.

Then, with Dominic Matteo off the field injured, Chelsea took the lead.

The best team won, let's hope they do well now

David O'Leary
Leeds manager

Le Saux crossed high from the left, Lampard headed down and Gudjohnsen swept the ball home with a superb first-time finish.

Leeds put central defender Michael Duberry up front for the last quarter-of-an-hour in a desperate bid for a goal.

But the visitors soon scored another to put the tie beyond doubt.

Bad tempered

To the displeasure of the Elland Road Road crowd, the goal again came when Leeds were down to 10 men.

Jokanovic made a high tackle on Stephen McPhail and the Leeds substitute went down in a heap.

Chelsea broke forward, Hasselbaink squared to Gudjohnsen from the left and the Icelandic striker shot emphatically past Nigel Martyn from just inside the area.

The game then became very bad tempered and Le Saux had to be stretchered off after being hit in the face by Alan Smith's shoulder.

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Leeds: Martyn, Mills, Ferdinand, Matteo, Harte, Bakke, Batty, Dacourt, Wilcox, Keane, Smith. Subs: Robinson, Kelly, McPhail, Duberry.

Chelsea: Cudicini, Melchiot, Gallas, Terry, Le Saux, Jokanovic, Dalla Bona, Lampard, Babayaro, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen. Subs: de Goey, Zenden, Stanic, Zola, Forssell.

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