Post-match reaction

Adrian Sherling reporting

David O'Leary again got the better of his managerial teacher George Graham, as his young Leeds side edged Tottenham in a seven-goal thriller at Elland Road.

Whenever these teams meet, one led by the sorcerer and one by his former apprentice, sparks fly. Following last season's ruck, in which record fines were awarded, this Elland Road clash was a gladiatorial duel in which only the strongest survived until the end.

Les Ferdinand and Lucas Radebe both left the field following a nasty clash of heads and both were immediately rushed to hospital after 29 minutes, the Spurs striker seemingly unconscious.

As if that were not enough, Leeds' awful injury problems got even worse when Olivier Dacourt had to limp off in the opening period. However, it was without the graft and craft of Radebe and Dacourt, O'Leary's men actually seemed stronger.

By the time the French midfielder left, Leeds were trailing to Sergei Rebrov's 37th minute effort - his third in the Premiership. The Ukrainian got on the end of Stephen Carr's low cross and drove the ball low into the far corner.

Yet with two of their most influential players off, the home side forced their way back into the game, but were given a huge help by some very un-George Graham-like defending by Tottenham.

Mark Viduka, back from his Olympic embarrassment, where the national side lost every game, grabbed two in a minute to reverse the scoreline. His first was a simple tap-in after Neil Sullivan had palmed Lee Bowyer's cross on to his own crossbar.

The second was equally as fortunate as he turned Gary Kelly's long-range effort past Sullivan, although how much he knew about it is debatable - it appeared to hit him as he ran across the line of the ball.

Just four minutes later, Alan Smith completed a tremendous spell for the Whites as he extended the lead. He was given all the time he wanted in the penalty area to head home Bowyer's free-kick.

Yet with Radebe, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Duberry all missing, Leeds had Danny Hay making his league debut at centre-back and his Tottenham counterpart Chris Perry took full advantage to pull one back on the hour.

Darren Anderton, returning after a month on the sidelines, curled in a delightful free-kick and Perry, hardly the tallest of players, rose highest and beat Nigel Martyn from close range.

It should have given Spurs hope, but some more poor defending gave Smith a second. It was almost a carbon copy of his earlier effort - having the freedom of Sullivan's penalty area to bury his header into the corner.

 Rebrovadded a controversial second of his own to make the finale tense for David O'Leary. The £11million summer signing flicked a Perry header over Martyn, yet Smith seemed to clear on the line. The players continued, yet the assistant referee signalled that the ball had crossed the line.

Leeds, looking exhausted from their midweek Champions League exertions, held on, although Anderton was inches away from reaching Rebrov's pass. Smith should have completed his hat-trick and wrap up the tie near the end, but his point-back effort cannoned back off the bar.

Leeds: Martyn, Kelly, Harte, Radebe (Hay 45), Mills, Bowyer, Dacourt (McPhail 36), Bakke, Matteo, Viduka (Bridges 80), Smith.
Subs Not Used: Huckerby, Robinson.
Goals: Viduka 52, 55, Smith 59, 64.

Tottenham: Sullivan, Carr, Thatcher, Perry, Vega, Sherwood, Leonhardsen, Freund, Ferdinand (Anderton 30), Iversen, Rebrov.
Subs Not Used: Walker, Clemence, Thelwell, Dominguez.
Booked: Iversen, Vega.
Goals: Rebrov 37, Perry 60, Rebrov 74.

Att: 37,562
Ref: N Barry (Scunthorpe).

RADEBE INJURY ADDS TO O'LEARY'S WORRIES

David O'Leary was left discussing injuries for the umpteenth time this season after seeing Lucas Radebe and Olivier Dacourt injured in the victory over Tottenham.

They join Harry Kewell, Jason Wilcox, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Duberry as Leeds' long-term casualties and O'Leary is running out of players.

He said: "Lucas has got a bad concussion and has gone to hospital. We're getting very, very depleted. Every week we seem to be talking about injuries. But the bottom line is we dug it out and got the three points.

"I think two managers have seen some very bad goals given away today. I thought we gave a soft goal away in the first half when I felt we were controlling the game. But personally I can see where they came from because we've got a patched up team and have had to send inexperienced players on."

O'Leary made Mark Viduka train with the Under-15's last week as punishment' for going to the Olympics, yet the manager was delighted as he scored twice on his Premiership return.

He added: "I bought Mark to play with Harry and you can imagine what will happen when Harry comes back. They will be wonderful."

George Graham, former boss at Elland Road, was unhappy with his side's defending. He growled: "It was a great game, in the second half especially. It was fantastic for the fans, but they're the types of games you want to win. There could have been a lot more goals.

"I think the first half was very low key and low tempo and I was delighted with that. It was very quiet and when we scored I thought we'd go on to win it. But then we had a crazy 12 minutes."