Leeds United 3 Deportivo La Coruna 0 - flashback: Player ratings, report and best quotes from historic Champions League victory

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Leeds United 3 Deportivo La Coruna 0 - full-time report

WITH cavalier spirit and the inspiration of a five-star show from captain-for-the-night Rio Ferdinand, Leeds United continued on their merry way in this most compelling Champions League extravaganza.

They most surely put a semi-final place beyond a side who have been rapidly gathering a big reputation throughout Europe but who, on the night, were sinfully miserable.

So much for midfielder Victor’s claim beforehand that Leeds were the weakest team in the last eight! Spanish champions? This bunch of imposters were so wretchedly awful that they looked as though they couldn’t play their way out of an orange box.

This was owed as much to United’s rumbustiosness as their own underestimation of the task they had been asked to perform and in the end they probably did not get all that they deserved for their lack of application.

Yet a three-goal cushion, without the concession of an all-important away goal, should leave polished away performers United with something to spare when they go to the Estadio Riazor on April 17.

If Deportivo had thought that they could keep the lid on things and hope for a breakaway goal they were guilty of exaggerating their capabilities against a United who are now completely adept at taming so-called big-timers.

Their coach Javier Irureta either hides his feelings very well or does not demand very high standards from his charges, for he said afterwards: “Speaking frankly, you have got to accept that in the first half Leeds played very powerfully.

“They scored their first goal at a crucial time and if you sum up the goals one was from a free-kick and the other two from corners. If you take those situations out of it we kind of matched them.”

There had been a buzz of anticipation in the crowd leading up to kick-off, but a misdirected defensive header by Matteo gave Djalminha an early shooting chance and United were grateful for his dalliance with the effort.

At the other end the Spanish rearguard backed off as Harte went forward and his bobbling shot caused Molina some consternation before he gathered it up.

A delightfully weighted long pass from Harte picked out Bowyer at the edge of the box, and he took it in his stride before attempting to clip it past Molina, but the keeper did well to get his body behind the ball to deny Leeds a classic goal.

Then Kewell produced some magic down the left, turning first Romero and then Manuel Pablo inside out with an array of spins, twists and turns before crashing his drive narrowly over the top from an unhelpful angle.

When Smith was pulled down 25 yards out by former Middlesbrough man Emerson, Harte’s free-kick was cleared with a minumum of fuss. But Leeds were having much the better of the exchanges and clearly had a big appetite for battle.

Emerson earned a booking when he left his foot in on Dacourt and Cesar then hacked down Smith at the edge of the box in the 26th minute to open up an inviting free-kick chance for Harte. His delivery was murderous and left Molina rooted to the spot as it zipped into the net off the crossbar.

Viduka’s glanced header opened the way for Smith, but with his back to goal he couldn’t work the space to get in a proper shot and the one he mustered barely troubled Molina.

A rasping long-range volley from Batty drew an acrobatic save from a keeper who could hardly have anticipated such a heavy workload and Deportivo were under more pressure 10 minutes before the break when Mills forced a corner.

This time Molina flapped at Harte’s kick but managed to fist it clear. Dacourt was unlucky to see his left foot shot from outside the box take a deflection ever so narrowly wide, then Smith came in with a diving header from Kewell’s cross but, unsighted by Viduka’s leap, he could only steer it away from the target.

A one-goal interval lead was the least an adventurous Leeds deserved against a side largely going through the motions and lacking inspiration. Nigel Martyn had not had a single save to make. Smith’s whipped-in shot was turned for a corner in the 51st minute and Leeds were about to double their lead.

Kewell pushed the ball down the line to Harte, whose sumptuous cross was met by a full-blooded header from Smith and this time bang on target.

Flapped Seven minutes later Harte went close to repeating his earlier free-kick success, with Molina mightily relieved to see it curl a couple of inches wide of his near post. In the 67th minute United were in ecstasy when they sailed into a threegoal lead.

Molina again flapped at Harte’s corner but a defender’s touch only helped it onto the head of Rio Ferdinand at the back post, who thundered it into the roof of the net for his first goal for the club. Within a minute he was performing retrieval work in his own six-yard box and eight minutes from time he had substitute Tristan banging his head in frustration as he whipped the ball off his toes as he shaped to shoot.

Good late saves by Martyn from substitutes Tristan and Pandiani ensured the clean sheet that will be so valuable when Leeds journey to Spain. Given their propensity for knocking over European opposition, it may well suit Leeds better to contemplate a semi-final double-header with Valencia rather than Arsenal, who take a slender 2-1 advantage to Spain in the second leg.

This European football suits Leeds down to the ground, and though meeting the Gunners would not present an insurmountable obstacle the preference would surely be for last season’s beaten finalists.

True, there is work still to be done in the away leg. A little bit, anyway.

ATTENDANCE: 35,508

Leeds United player ratings

Nigel Martyn: Important late saves - 8

Danny Mills: Spirited - 8

Rio Ferdinand: Sensational - 10

Dominic Matteo: Becoming a star - 9

Ian Harte: Night of triumph - 9

Lee Bowyer: Subdued - 7

David Batty: Raw-edged - 7

Olivier Dacourt: Strolled through - 8

Harry Kewell: Tricks and treats - 7

Alan Smith: Wholehearted - 8

Mark Viduka: Held the line - 9

RIO FERDINAND’S 10 out of 10 rating is only the second to be awarded by the Yorkshire Evening Post. His flawless performance was adjudged to have matched that of goalkeeper Nigel Martyn in last season’s Olympic Stadium goalless draw against Roma in the UEFA Cup.

SUBSTITUTES Jason Wilcox: For Kewell, 84 Not used: Robinson, Kelly, Bakke, Burns, Maybury.

Deportivo La Coruna player ratings

Francisco Molina: Collywobbles - 6

Manuel Pablo: Outstripped - 6

Nourredine Naybet: Dodgy - 6

Cesar: Caught napping - 6

Romero: Flimsy - 6

Fran: Uncommitted - 6

Sebastian Scaloni: Unimpressive - 5

Emerson: Solo show - 8

Pedro Duscher: Jaded - 6

Djalminha: Flashes - 7

Roy Makaay: Shocker - 5

SUBSTITUTES Valeron: For Duscher, 54 Tristan: For Scaloni 73 Walter Pandiani: For Fran, 73 Not used: Songo’o, Capdevila, Victor, Fernando

Win is simply the best – David O’Leary

LEEDS UNITED took a giant step towards the Champions League semi-finals last night with beaming manager David O’Leary declaring: “That’s the best yet!”

The 3-0 humbling of hapless Spanish champions Deportivo La Coruna ranks among the greatest nights Elland Road has witnessed, but O’Leary was swift to issue a cautionary note.

“That’s only half time,” he said.

“We’ve still got to face them in the second leg in Spain and I have seen threegoal advantages wiped out before.

“But the main thing was not to concede a goal and view anything after that as a bonus, so to go there 3-0 up is tremendous.

“I don’t want to go to Deportivo and be in for a shock. We have to go and finish off the job in the knowledge that they are a team who can score goals, particularly at home.”

The worry for O’Leary stems from the second group stage of this competition, when Deportivo went 3-0 down to Paris St Germain in Spain before they conjured four goals in 27 minutes for a memorable victory.

“I’ve seen a tape of that and Paris ended up being well turned over,” he said.

O’Leary was not biting when asked what he thought now of a Deportivo claim that United were the weakest team in the competition.

Fans chanted: “Three-nil to the weakest link” but O’Leary observed: “What was actually said was that there are eight teams left in and of those eight we are the poorest financially and the smallest club.

“I am more concerned with the fact that who you play as you progress is dependant upon seedings, so that it is not a draw which pulls one team out of the hat after the other and they play each other.

“We didn’t want to play Arsenal, for instance."

"And Deportivo didn’t want to play a team from their own country.

“If you take, say, Bayern Munich, they would have chosen Leeds United as their opponents on the basis that we are the smallest club financially. That’s a fact.

“They might change their minds now!

“There have been so many great nights for Leeds in this competition since August, but this would rank as the best.

“I’ll probably get jumped on for saying this with the notion that I am playing things down, but I never thought we would get this far and the rest of Europe didn’t either.”

O’Leary paid tribute to the central defensive pair of Rio Ferdinand and Dominic Matteo, saying: “Some people like to throw one or two things in Rio’s face, but I think he is all quality.

“Having been a centre half for 20 years I think I might know something about centre backs and he is pure class.

“We bought Dominic for under £4m and the way he has filled in and the way he is playing this season has made him outstanding.”

Of United’s further prospects, he said: “We’re not frightened of the big arena. We go out there and do our best. This is our first adventure in this great, great competition and I as a manager and they as players want to see how far we can go.

“I told them before kick-off that we were not making up the numbers in the last eight, that we had not come in through the back door and that we were here on our merits. “I asked them to go out, do their best and enjoy themselves. Opportunities like this do not come around very often.”

Best quotes of the evening

"I said to them ‘don’t think we are making up the numbers in the last eight after the two groups you’ve come through’. People think I’m talking it down but I honestly never thought we would get this far – and the rest of Europe didn’t." – United boss DAVID O’LEARY, revelling in his side’s success.

"It’s certainly not over yet. It will be tough over there and we’ve all seen what they did to PSG, so we know they have come back from this before." – RIO FERDINAND, urging his teammates to approach the second leg against Deportivo with caution.

"Their manager said we were the worst team in the competition, but I don’t think we’re so bad." – French midfielder OLIVIER DACOURT, hitting back at comments made by the Deportivo camp.

"It will be difficult to reach the semi-final. Miracles do happen in football – but Leeds are a strong team. – Deportivo coach JAVIER IRURETA, admitting his side face an uphill task in the second-leg.

"It wasn’t the best we’ve played, but we did a job and to score three without conceding was tremendous." – United defender DANNY MILLS, insisting Leeds can still improve.