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Leeds United action replay 1999: Wimbledon topple the Whites
For all the composure with which Leeds United had held a slender lead at the top of the Premiership, the fear that reality would soon bite was realised at Selhurst Park.
WIMBLEDON 2 LEEDS UNITED 0
FA Premiership
Selhurst Park, Saturday, November 6, 1999
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David O'Leary, United's manager, was calmly resistant to any suggestion that Leeds were on their way to winning the top-flight Championship, but there was tangible disappointment among his players after a defeat to Wimbledon pushed the club beneath Manchester United and wrecked their run of 13 games without defeat.
O'Leary had previously bemoaned the strain his young squad were under while trying to manage both a Premiership and UEFA Cup campaign, and he blamed the loss in London on an exhausting schedule which had taken them to Moscow three days earlier.
"I looked around the dressing room at half-time and the lads were visibly shattered," he said. "Moscow took a lot out of them. But if over the course of the next 14 matches we win 12, draw one and lose one, I'll be a happy man. We're doing fine."
A back injury sustained by Michael Bridges, who had scored twice against Lokomotiv Moscow and 12 goals in all, was keenly felt by Leeds. O'Leary's side looked unusually toothless in attack and craved a forward with the relentless power of Wimbledon's John Hartson.
The striker scored the opening goal after 31 minutes, smashing home a close-range chance, and his influence was so great that Jonathan Woodgate was withdrawn at half-time at the end of a torrid contest with the Welshman.
When Marcus Gayle followed up Hartson's goal by heading in a corner with 25 minutes remaining, Leeds were a spent force.
UNITED: Martyn, Kelly, Radebe, Woodgate (Duberry 46), Harte, McPhail, Batty, Bowyer (Bakke 62), Kewell, Smith (Hopkin 77), Huckerby. Subs (not used): Robinson, Mills.
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