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Leeds United claimed a priceless 1-0 victory in their fight against relegation after James Milner's early strike handed them all three points from their trip to Charlton Athletic.

The visitors' bright start was rewarded when Milner collected Mark Viduka's pass to calmly slide the ball past Dean Kiely into the left corner of the net.

Leeds had looked certain contenders for the drop in their previous matches, but Eddie Gray had his charges playing with the passion and energy of David O'Leary's side.

Viduka seemed at the heart of every move and the Australian international almost doubled their advantage, however his close range shot was cleared off the line by Radostin Kishishev after beating Kiely at the near post.

While Charlton were not at their best, they were almost level shortly after when Matt Holland's far post header crashed off the woodwork only for Leeds to eventually scramble the ball away.

Claus Jensen brought his shooting boots with him to The Valley but his well-struck free kick was palmed away by Paul Robinson, who was beginning to feature more in the clash.

Addicks manager Alan Curbishley brought on loan star Carlton Cole for the second half and the Chelsea ace immediately caused problems for the visitors.

The youngster broke away, but Lucas Radebe was on hand to mop up the danger despite both players going down in the penalty area.

Milner should have done better with his far post header from Jermaine Pennant's cross, while Holland saw his free kick drift high and wide of Robinson's goal at the other end.

Viduka should have done better when Kiely spilled a Leeds free kick, but the former Celtic man failed to connect under pressure from close range.

Leeds naturally sat back in order to protect their slender advantage, while Charlton failed to capitalise on the half chances they created.

Milner almost netted a second late on, but Kiely collected the young striker's effort down low at his near post, while Viduka saw his last-gasp chip cleared off the line.

Team Name	Charlton Athletic	Leeds United
Goals	0	1
Shots on target (Inc Goals)	5	5
Shots off Target	7	6
Blocked Shots	3	2
Corners	3	4
Foul Conceded	12	18
Offsides	2	2
Yellow Cards	2	1
Red Cards	0	0