Wow. Did Leeds United, the team ranked 45th in the English league system really just beat the reigning champions and last year's European Cup finalists Manchester United at Old Trafford? Yes, they did. And how? With a lot of passion, brilliant tactics, a fresh on-form striker in the shape of Jermaine Beckford and the luck to catch United having a very, very bad day at the office. The visitors capitalised on some below par defending from a clearly shakey Wes Brown, who had only found out he was playing when Nemanja Vidic pulled up injured in the warm-up, and Beckford made no mistake in putting the ball in the back of the net. Then the visitors defended with the confidence of a team with the best league record in England this season, albeit playing in the third tier against opposition far inferior to their Manchester arch-rivals. United's frontline, made up of the anonymous £30 million man Dimitar Berbatov and the strangely misfiring England striker Wayne Rooney, just could not muster a reply, and even when Michael Owen, a man who scored more Premier League goals in the past decade than anyone bar Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane, was introduced from the bench he missed a clearcut chance of his own. The home team which included such experienced pros as Gary Neville, Brown and later Ryan Giggs as well as promising youngsters of the calibre of Darron Gibson, Danny Welbeck and Fabio Da Silva were simply not up to the task and were deservedly turned over by a well-organised Leeds outfit under the astute management of Simon Grayson. The yorkshire men deserved their day in the spotlight, reminding many of the glory days of 2001 when they ventured into the semi-finals of the Champions League with David O'Leary's team which included Mark Viduka, Rio Ferdinand and Harry Kewell. Times have changed for the worse since but if they carry on with the form shown so far this season, it won't be too long before they are back in the Premier League, where they surely belong. As for the Red Devils, it looks like it might be back to the drawing board for Fergie, who only spared substitute Antonio Valencia from criticism after the match, and threatened to make wholesale changes to the team for the Carling Cup semi-final with Manchester City, which has now unfortunately been postponed due to the snow. If United are to land a record nineteenth league title come May, or reach a third consecutive Champions League final, Berbatov, Owen, Brown and the rest need to seriously get their act together...
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