Southampton 1 Leeds Utd 0: Leeds on the brink as old head loses plot

Never have Leeds United been as close to the edge as this. There's now a chink of daylight between them and Hull City after Southampton deservedly secured the victory which keeps them in the play-off chase. It took George Burley's wasteful team 84 minutes to score - and Leeds barely a third of that to become party to their own destruction.

On another sun-drenched afternoon which called for cool heads, Alan Thompson lost his in a spell of five yellow cards and one red near the end of the first half. The midfielder was misguided, flooring Jhon Viafara outside the area with a tackle which itself warranted a booking and then grabbing the Southampton midfielder round the neck to stop him confronting Eddie Lewis.

The dismissal, ordered on the advice of the assistant, provoked such fury that three stewards rushed on to shield the referee, Tony Bates, who booked Radostin Kishishev and Chris Baird after the furore died down. For all Dennis Wise's protestations about peace-making efforts and officials "misunderstanding the situation", he should be cursing Thompson for leaving him a man short for 55 minutes.

But Leeds may still have emerged with a point, only for Bradley Wright-Phillips to turn and shoot right-footed in off the bar in a goalmouth mêlée sparked by his fellow substitute Djamel Belmadi's late right-wing centre. "If we hadn't won, our chances of finishing in the top six would have been almost over,'' said Burley. "But we stuck at it and I think we deserved the goal.''

Ugly full-time scenes involving visiting fans, stewards, police and goading home supporters were another reminder of why Leeds' demise would perhaps not be lamented by the football nation. Leeds contributed little to this game until Hayden Foxe scissor-kicked over and Kishishev's close-in shot was blocked.

It was a story of squandered chances by Southampton, with Grzegorz Rasiak and Claus Lundekvam heading wastefully wide and Casper Ankergren saving brilliantly from a header by Kenwyne Jones.

Leeds, with Ipswich Town to visit Elland Road next weekend before they close their campaign at Derby County, showed why they have not won away since late January. "We have to rely on others now as well as getting our own results right," said Wise.