Juninho pushes Leeds closer to relegation mire

Leeds United 2 Middlesbrough 3

Life at Leeds gets no better for Terry Venables, who endured another uncomfortable afternoon in his troubled reign at Elland Road as the side he saved from relegation two years ago raised fears that his current team may soon be fighting for their Premiership survival.

Do not be misled by the scoreline, or by Venables' assertion that his side were worth a point. Only two gift goals handed to Mark Viduka gave Leeds even a sniff of it. In reality, they were soundly beaten, two magnificent goals by Juninho and Géremi giving Middlesbrough a day to savour and condemning Leeds to a fifth defeat in their last six Premiership matches.

Leeds were under pressure to redeem themselves after the humiliation of losing to First Division Sheffield United in the FA Cup quarter-finals. Instead, while their effort could not be questioned, they could not produce quality to match that of the visitors.

Much more of the same and they could easily slide into trouble, although Venables prefers not to see it that way. "Relegation is a possibility we would be foolish to ignore," he conceded. "But I'm not that concerned. The gap between ourselves and the bottom three is not that wide but if we continue to play with that kind of attitude we will be all right. I really thought we would get that equalising goal."

Had Mark Schwarzer not had a day he will want to forget, however, the chance of a point would never have presented itself. It was the goalkeeper's indecisiveness, allied to George Boateng's failure to bar Viduka's path to the ball, that handed Leeds the lead, and later his poor handling let them back into the game.

The first blunder came after 24 minutes. Nick Barmby's chip was laid off by Viduka to Eirik Bakke, who gave it back to him. Boateng tried to prevent Viduka reaching the ball but the Australian clambered over him and stabbed the ball into the net before Schwarzer could smother it.

A penalty enabled Boro to draw level but it was no more than they deserved. Lucas Radebe clipped the heels of Massimo Maccarone as he sped on to Boateng's pass. The Italian scored from the spot.

The next two goals were of the highest order. Juninho's, two minutes into first-half stoppage time, was his second since he returned to action after his long injury absence. From Jonathan Greening's crossfield pass, the little Brazilian let fly from 25 yards and his aim was too accurate for Paul Robinson, the ball zipping into the left-hand corner to stun the home crowd.

Leeds' response was positive as Alan Smith forced a fingertip save by Schwarzer and Danny Mills unleashed a powerful drive that Boateng somehow blocked. After weather- ing this period of pressure, Boro reimposed themselves. They had been the more assured side in the first half and Juninho's goal clearly gave their confidence a boost.

They did not look like a side with a record of 10 away losses, and Venables was soon contemplating another defeat as Géremi produced a moment of brilliance to eclipse even Juninho's. Seeing Robinson off his line, the Cameroon midfielder beat the keeper from 25 yards with a perfectly flighted lob. Little wonder Middlesbrough would like to sign him permanently when his loan from Real Madrid expires at the end of the season.

From that point, Middlesbrough should have wrapped up the points in comfort. But a second mistake by Schwarzer, spilling a low drive from substitute James Milner, handed a second goal to Viduka and offered Leeds hope of salvaging a point that they scarcely deserved.

Leeds United 2
Viduka 24, 76

Middlesbrough 3
Maccarone pen 36, Juninho 45, Géremi 64

Half-time: 1-2 Attendance: 39,073