Leeds storm Anderlecht fortress

No wonder the 1,300 who travelled to Brussels insisted on the players coming back out to celebrate with them - just as they had that December night in Rome.

Amid a carnival atmosphere, the supporters also saluted chairman Peter Ridsdale and demanded a song from outstanding midfielder David Batty.

Not only had they witnessed yet another glorious night in O'Leary's remarkable passage through Europe's most dangerous waters, they had seen Leeds sail away with a superb win where even Manchester United had come to grief.

Anderlecht had rubbished Leeds' 2-1 triumph at Elland Road a week earlier but the perceived lack of respect from coach Aime Anthuenis was a compelling stimulant to the Leeds players.

Merely avoiding defeat in Belgium would have hauled Leeds to the brink of a place in the last eight, but by the 13th minute it was clear they were in the mood to emphasise Olivier Dacourt's pre-match warning that Anthuenis had seen nothing yet.

It was a simple enough goal that silenced the Belgian crowd and severely dented Anderlecht's aura of home invincibility, but when Viduka held up the ball before delivering the perfect cross for Smith to sidefoot beyond goalkeeper Zvonko Milojevic, it transpired to be more a statement of intent. Leeds could have shut up shop there and then but that is an alien concept to O'Leary. He had Harry Kewell on the bench desperate to make an impact but his teammates had no need of his sublime skills this time around.

Instead, Leeds set about tightening their grip on a game already slipping beyond Anderlecht, but even their own ebullient fans hardly dared hope for the two goals in three minutes before half-time that ended any chance of a Belgian recovery.

Viduka, suddenly displaying the confidence that under-pinned his four-goal haul against Liverpool in November, looked a finisher supreme as he directed a soaring far-post header from Dominic Matteo's centre beyond Milojevic.

Smith, who plays with enough devil to antagonise fans and rivals alike, wore his impish grin like a badge of honour after Dacourt and Batty engineered the third goal for him to despatch, milking the moment with his team-mates while O'Leary jigged on the touch-line.

The second half could have been an anti-climax but Jan Koller's 76th-minute headed goal sparked a mini-revival - and a brilliant mid-air save by Nigel Martyn from the Czech striker - before Ian Harte completed an extraordinary night with an 81st-minute penalty after Viduka was felled.