Leeds United moved into third place in the Premiership last night, to within a point of Newcastle United, the side they meet here on Saturday. Robbie Fowler scored his first goals for the Elland Road club along the way as Leeds secured only their second win in six league games.
Encouraging as all this was for David O'Leary, however, the entire Leeds evening was overshadowed by a player who did not appear, Lee Bowyer.
Bowyer quite literally cast his shadow over events as he sat alongside Jonathan Woodgate on the television gantry above the West Stand. The crowd sang Bowyer's name throughout and his colleagues made great show of acknowledging their transfer-listed mate after Mark Viduka had made it 1-0.
Viduka and co gestured in solidarity toward the gantry and left no doubt that their sympathy lies with Bowyer. Where that leaves that the overall situation is another matter, but O'Leary must wish that Bowyer would back down. Given the way Viduka and Fowler linked up with Harry Kewell, Bowyer's presence on the right would be as convincing an attacking quartet as any of their rivals.
"I'm delighted to be dealing with just football matters again," said O'Leary shortly before kick-off, though it was only after being forced to mount another defence of his forthcoming book Leeds United On Trial.
O'Leary conceded that the book's title might have been a mistake - "naive" was O'Leary's word - but he said once again that he did not receive money directly from the News of the World's serialisation and that he fully intends to keep his payment from the publishers, understood to be around £200,000.
A banner unfurled in the crowd that read "Lose Bowyer, Lose The Title? It's Your Choice" told its own story about the state of the club. After 26 minutes, when Leeds were two up, O'Leary must have been tempted to offer a chorus of reply, particularly as both goals originated from the right side where Bowyer normally plays.
In the 20th minute, Danny Mills fed Gary Kelly - operating in front of him in Bowyer's position. Kelly raced into the Everton area unchecked and clipped in a delicate chip. It was slightly behind Viduka, but the Australian arched his back and steered the ball into the bottom corner beyond Steve Simonsen.
Six minutes later, Fowler opened his Leeds account. Again Mills was centrally involved. Drifting in from the right flank, Mills scooped the ball over the Everton defence to where Fowler had found space behind Abel Xavier and David Weir. Fowler brought the ball down with his chest and then directed a right-footed shot past Simonsen.
Everton's resistance effectively ended when Fowler drilled in Leeds's third and his second with 20 minutes to go.
A late Everton rally - which had uncomfortable echoes of last Sunday's game against Leicester - gave Leeds a scare, Joe Max Moore pulling a goal back with an impressive volley seven minutes from the end and David Weir heading a second for Everton in injury time.
LEEDS: Martyn, Mills, Ferdinand, Matteo, Harte, Kelly, Batty (Bakke 81), Johnson, Kewell, Viduka (Keane 88), Fowler. Subs Not Used: Robinson, Wilcox, Duberry. Booked: Batty. Goals: Viduka 19, Fowler 26, 71.
EVERTON: Simonsen, Watson, Weir, Unsworth, Pistone (Moore 50), Gemmill, Alexandersson (Tal 75), Xavier, Naysmith, Radzinski, Pembridge (Gascoigne 22). Subs Not Used: Gerrard, Blomqvist. Booked: Gascoigne. Goals: Moore 84, Weir 90.
Referee: P Jones (Loughborough).
