Having stood head to head with Manchester United all season, Arsenal suffered a potentially fatal blow at Elland Road last night.

The towel was not exactly thrown in but there was no doubting the disappointment as the Arsenal players trooped off wearily after succumbing to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's 86th-minute winner.

Arsenal had abundant chances to win this game only to be denied by their own wasteful finishing, two goal-line clearances, superb saves by Nigel Martyn and a masterful defensive performance by Jonathon Woodgate.

But their nerves were jangling from the very first minute and it was only a penalty miss by Ian Harte, who hit the underside of the bar, in first-half injury time, that prevented Leeds going ahead far earlier.

Arsenal finally came to life as Ray Parlour mis-hit a shot when clean through, Martyn twice denied Anelka and cleared a shot from Tony Adams off the line with his foot, while Bergkamp shot just wide.

With Leeds pressing on the break, David Seaman brilliantly tipped a long-range effort by Lee Bowyer around the post.

Harte did oblige by missing the penalty just before the break after Martin Keown had fouled Smith near the by-line and Seaman was then equal to Hasselbaink's follow-up effort.

Arsenal looked to have escaped when referee Willard turned down what later proved to be a blatant penalty after Adams had taken Smith's legs from underneath him.

After some heated exchanges between Adams and Smith, tempers were bubbling over as Vieira and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink squared up to each other and the yellow card tally had by now reached nine.

Amid the growing mayhem, Arsenal still had to press for victory though and Nwankwo Kanu was sent on for Marc Overmars with 25 minutes left.

The Nigerian was immediately in the thick of the action and soon afterwards, Bergkamp nutmegged Woodgate only for Radebe to clear his shot off the line and the Dutchman's follow-up from the tightest of angles hit the sidenetting.

By now the game was flowing, almost frantically, from end to end but still the vital goal would not come for the visitors.

Bergkamp again had another sight of goal but was blocked out by Woodgate, Adams struck a volley a foot over the bar from a corner and Kaba Diawara was thrown on for Parlour.

It almost proved the masterstroke as, after Anelka and Kanu had both been denied, the Frenchman produced a thunderous goalbound volley which Woodgate somehow headed off the line.

After Nelson Vivas came on for the injured Winterburn, Diawara twice more came agonisingly close to scoring, with a header hitting the top of the crossbar and the underside of Martyn's body deflecting another effort just wide.

But Wenger had been right to be worried as first David Batty almost lobbed Seaman before Hasselbaink arrived unmarked at the far post with four minutes of normal time left to head home a cross by Harry Kewell.

Leeds United: Martyn, Haaland, Radebe, Woodgate, Harte, Hopkin, Bowyer, Batty, Kewell, Hasselbaink, Smith. Subs Not Used: Wetherall, Granville, Robinson, McPhail, Jones. Booked: Hasselbaink, Batty, Smith, Harte. Goals: Hasselbaink 86.

Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Keown, Winterburn (Vivas 81), Parlour (Diawara 71), Vieira, Petit, Overmars (Kanu 65), Bergkamp, Anelka. Subs Not Used: Bould, Lukic. Booked: Parlour, Petit, Vieira, Dixon, Adams.

Referee: G Willard (Worthing).