Man Utd

1-1

Leeds Utd

Manchester United are now seven points adrift of rivals Arsenal after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Leeds United at Old Trafford.

After suffering a 3-2 reversal against Middlesbrough in their last outing, United were expected to come out with all guns blazing - but again they misfired.

Louis Saha was rested for the match - and was missed as Ruud van Nistelrooy failed to find the target in the whole game.

Paul Scholes had given United the lead - which was merited on basis of possession - but Leeds fought back wonderfully and their effort and commitment was typified by Alan Smith who headed home the equaliser.

United started off the game brightly and Scholes had a 20-yard deflected effort only just held over the line from debutant Scott Carson.

Mikael Silvestre should have put the home side ahead just minutes later when he met a corner from close ranger, but Gary Kelly blocked the effort and Carson cleared to keep United at bay.

John O'Shea then headed wide before Ryan Giggs clipped the post with swivelling on the edge of the area.

Leeds did not really have a chance to talk about in the opening period and were limited to a couple of Stephen McPhail free-kicks which caused some consternation in the United area.

The home side continued to turn the screw and Kleberson, Nicky Butt, Scholes and van Nistelrooy all went wide with a couple of chances each.

One real blow for United was the sight of Silvestre's limping off after 20 minutes following a challenge from Smith.

Into the second half and Leeds began the brightest and while certainly not dominating - caused a number of problems and created a good chance for Eirik Bakke, but his header from 12 yards was well held by Tim Howard.

Butt and Scholes went close again, before Sir Alex Ferguson introduced skipper Roy Keane to the fray and the Irishman's presence had an immediate effect.

Within seven minutes, United were ahead as the ubiquitous Scholes slammed the ball home from close range after Carson parried Gary Neville's cross which was fired low into the six-yard area.

Leeds, to their immense credit, did not give up the game as they could easily have done and actually found themselves on level terms on 67 minutes.

Didier Domi picked up the ball on the left and crossed towards the penalty spot, where Smith had little difficulty in out-jumping Wes Brown - who had come on for Silvestre - and planting the ball past the helpless Howard.

United introduced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and predictably launched an assault on the Leeds goal for the rest of the game.

Scholes saw a good chance deflected wide by Steve Caldwell, while O'Shea again failed to direct a corner on target.

The best chance fell to van Nistelrooy, but from five yards he blasted over the bar - which seemed to sum up The Red Devils' day.

The champions have now taken just one point from their last two home games and realise that they need to return to form as soon as possible if they are to retain any hope of clinging on to their Premiership crown.

Leeds remain second from bottom, but the point gained should give everyone at the troubled West Yorkshire outfit a real boost.

Team Name	Manchester United	Leeds United
Goals	1	1
Shots on target (Inc Goals)	5	2
Shots off Target	15	3
Blocked Shots	5	2
Corners	12	7
Foul Conceded	12	18
Offsides	2	2
Yellow Cards	1	2
Red Cards	0	0