Harte puts Leeds back on track

Merson scored Villa's first-half goal but luck deserted him in a thrilling Villa finish as he hit the woodwork twice in the space of a minute. It was a great relief for Leeds who managed to hold out in this crucial clash between two of the Premiership's great under-achievers.

Leeds triumphed courtesy of a first-half equaliser by Lee Bowyer and an unerringly struck 73rd-minute penalty from full back Ian Harte. They performed adequately without being outstanding and rode their luck as Villa dominated the second half - Steve Stone suffering the same misfortune as Merson by hitting the Leeds' woodwork.

Gregory took a gamble when, blessed with the rare opportunity of spear-heading his goal-shy attack with two conventional strikers, he opted to allow £9.5million record- signing Juan Pablo Angel to plough a lone furrow up front on his Villa debut. He left top scorer Dion Dublin on the bench alongside his other big-name substitute David Ginola.

He relied on Merson to provide the support for the 26-year- old Colombia international - and the midfielder did not let him down.

In the 24th minute, he accelerated into the penalty area to deliver a right-footed strike after Ian Taylor had headed on a left-wing cross by Gareth Barry.

That was a rare moment of satisfaction for young England defender Barry because after that he was involved in two individual errors that cost his side the game and did little to enhance his reputation with Eriksson.

First, he slipped over when attempting to intercept a 28th-minute cross by Robbie Keane which Bowyer converted for the Leeds' equaliser. Then, it was his reckless push in the back on Keane that led to the match-winning penalty by Harte.

Leeds have been enduring almost as embarrassing a time as Aston Villa in the League recently - failing to make any impact despite the expensive signings of Rio Ferdinand and Robbie Keane. But on this occasion they were good enough, and lucky enough to take home three invaluable points.

Robinson, who had a fine game, was nowhere near the ball when Merson fired in a powerful long-range shot with the outside of his right boot only to hit the post. As the Leeds defence attempted to scramble the ball clear, Merson collected it on the edge of the penalty area and again beat Robinson with a deft chip only to see his effort hit the underside of the bar and bounce back into play.

Ferdinand, on his return after missing a game with a knee ligament injury suffered while watching television, produced a dominant performance in defence that will have done his international chances no harm at all.

The same could be said about rival keepers James and Robinson.

But the surprise package of the night for Eriksson will undoubtedly have been Merson, who goes from strength to strength.

Gregory remained upbeat despite this latest setback, and added that past experiences would stand his team in good stead.

'This is a time for keeping your heads and staying close together,' he said. 'We've been down this path a couple of times before and we've managed to come out of it.

'We need to play like that again at the weekend and believe in ourselves.'