London, Nov 30: Bottom club Leeds United rallied to beat Charlton Athletic 1-0 in their English premier league match.
Leeds United, bottom of the premier league and broken by financial problems, ended a run of five consecutive league defeats on Saturday (November 29) with a result that will have delighted caretaker manager Eddie Gray. The visitors made a flying start when Mark Viduka, who scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 rout in this fixture last season, set up 17-year-old James Milner for a ninth-minute opener. Charlton started the day riding high in fourth place in the league but their players could not reproduce their recent form. Viduka nearly scored himself shortly after with a one-man run which beat Charlton goalkeeper Dean Kiely but was cleared off the line by Radostin Kishishev.


Charlton failed to seize their chances with the most chaotic being those by Euell, Holland and Stuart almost in the Leeds goal-mouth during the first half. All were fumbled or sent wide.


Euell had another chance in the second half after a Charlton free kick. His shot went wide and was flicked away by Leeds goalkeeper Paul Robinson.


Viduka kept up the pressure to the last. The big Australian striker capitalised on poor defending by Hermann Hreidarsson. The Icelander headed the ball back to his goalkeeper without seeming to notice Viduka closing on him rapidly. Viduka lobbed the ball over Kiely but it was cleared by Charlton defenders just before it crossed the line two minutes before fulltime.


Bureau Report