28/11/2001  Leeds 0 Chelsea 2
 
Two-goal Eidur Gudjohnsen fired Chelsea into the fifth 
round of the Worthington Cup to ease the pressure on manager 
Claudio Ranieri and leave Leeds boss David O'Leary to reflect 
on another trophy to slip through his grasp.

Gudjohnsen scored in the 59th and 80th minutes to take his 
tally to seven for the season and end Leeds' proud 19-game 
unbeaten record at Elland Road.

Ranieri had come under fire following his side's goalless 
bore draw with Blackburn at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, at the 
end of which Chelsea's stars were booed off the pitch.

It was rumoured Ranieri, who chose not to speak to the 
media in the aftermath, then offered his resignation, a claim 
which has been stringently denied by Blues managing director 
Colin Hutchinson.

Ranieri is almost certain to be a relieved man after this 
victory, although O'Leary will be counting the cost as he lost 
Dominic Matteo, Stephen McPhail and Eirik Bakke to injury.

Leeds fans demanded silverware with O'Leary poised to take 
his transfer spending beyond the £90million barrier but there 
will be no March trip to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium for the 
Worthington Cup final.

The arrival of Robbie Fowler seemingly cannot come quick 
enough for Leeds for whom results and goals have dried up in 
recent weeks, coinciding with the departure of Mark Viduka on 
World Cup duty during what has so far been the difficult 
November O'Leary had predicted.

There had been an air of expectancy around Elland Road 
prior to kick off with the news of Fowler's impending 
£11million arrival from Liverpool on Thursday.

Having already agreed personal terms of around 
£35,000-per-week on a deal which will take him up to the 
summer of 2006, and having completed the first part of a 
stringent medical, the 26-year-old is poised to join Leeds' 
revolution.

Fowler, though, did not to watch his potential new 
team-mates from the Elland Road stands, instead having 
returned home to Liverpool to tie up a few loose ends.

It was easy to see why a player with 171 goals in his 330 
Liverpool appearances is needed as Leeds struggled to muster 
any kind of chance - other than deadball specials from Ian 
Harte - during a performance which must rank as their worst of 
the season.

There has never been any love lost between Leeds and 
Chelsea, with the previous 11 meetings producing 71 yellow 
cards and five red, including that of O'Leary during the 
goalless Elland Road draw five weeks ago after remonstrating 
with referee Paul Durkin in the tunnel.

O'Leary had been left fuming with Durkin for failing to 
send off Graeme Le Saux for a two-footed lunge on Danny Mills, 
the Chelsea skipper escaping with a mere caution.

On this occasion it was more like a teddy bear's picnic 
with both sides on their best behaviour in front of Jeff 
Winter, who had sent off Danny Mills and Lee Bowyer in Leeds' 
2-1 win at Arsenal in August.

Winter, though, missed the most significant moment of an 
uninspiring first half as Robbie Keane's reputation again 
seemingly preceded him as the Irishman should have had a 
penalty on the stroke of half-time.

In receiving a through ball from Mills, Keane then darted 
into the area, only to be brought down by the trailing leg of 
Chelsea's French defender William Gallas.

But Winter, from more than 30 yards away, waved away all 
appeals to the fury of the Republic of Ireland international, 
who escaped being booked for diving for what would have been 
the third time this season.

Similar incidents at Sunderland and Charlton had led to 
Keane being cautioned, even though he was wrongly penalised on 
both occasions, with the impish forward failing to gain what 
should have been his just rewards.

Only Sam Dalla Bona was booked, and that for dissent, 
during an opening 45 minutes in which neither Carlo Cudicini 
nor Nigel Martyn were seriously tested.

The best of the chances fell the way of Jason Wilcox, the 
left winger connecting with a sweet left-foot half-volley 
which led to Cudicini fisting the ball away to his right.

In the second half, after Cudicini had beaten away a Harte 
free-kick, Gudjohnsen struck a first-time right-foot shot in 
off Martyn's left-hand post at a point when Matteo was 
standing on the sidelines injured.

The Scot was substituted and Bakke soon followed and with 
replacement McPhail, just back from a long-term Achilles 
injury, lying in agony 10 yards outside the Chelsea area, the 
Blues broke with devastating effect and Gudjohnsen struck an 
excellent 15-yard drive to seal victory.