Keane edge gives Smith the break Leeds needed

Leeds United 1 Middlesbrough

No matter how much David O'Leary talks up their season as a triumph against the odds after the disruption caused by matters away from the football pitch, it is difficult not to assess the last nine months as a chapter of disappointment for Leeds United. Back in August, remember, tipsters put forward Leeds alongside Arsenal or Liverpool to challenge Manchester United's supremacy.

In the end, they have finished fifth, Alan Smith's goal at Elland Road yesterday in a match they should have won by a wider margin edging out Chelsea after Aston Villa's win at Stamford Bridge. Leeds' place in Europe next season – their fifth in a row – was assured already but O'Leary knows the Uefa Cup is only a minor consolation prize, and he will learn over the summer that the Champions' League is the yardstick for next season's success.

Who will be with him to pursue that prize is something else the summer will reveal. The top-five finish nets Leeds more than £7 million in merit money from the Premier League pot, but O'Leary reportedly must clear £15m in transfer market profits before another ball is kicked, which puts the future of several of his current squad in doubt. Mark Viduka, missing yesterday with an ankle injury, may be elsewhere by August and there is new speculation that Internazionale are preparing a £20m offer for Harry Kewell after being pipped for the Italian title.

Robbie Keane might be sufficiently unsettled after a season more out than in to find a move tempting, although he played yesterday as though he would like to be Robbie Fowler's partner at Leeds when the dust settles. Fowler was resting a sore hip ahead of World Cup duty, and it was Keane who first threatened Middlesbrough, chipping wide across the face of goal after a superbly threaded ball from Harry Kewell.

Leeds, in fact, made chance after chance and, had their finishing been as effective as their approach play, Middlesbrough would have suffered a heavier reverse. As it was, before half-time, goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer was allowed to deal comfortably with headers by Dominic Matteo and Eirik Bakke before Keane failed to convert Alan Smith's inviting low centre.

Middlesbrough, ending their season with four consecutive defeats, almost shot themselves in the foot when Schwarzer's attempt to clear an under-hit back pass by Ugo Ehiogu thundered into Keane and went behind for a goal-kick. Smith and Lee Bowyer then combined in vain to set up Kewell, and Bowyer fired wide from Smith's pass.

Another opportunity passed early in the second half when Gareth Southgate hacked the ball away under his crossbar as Smith sought to finish off following Schwarzer's save from a Matteo header. But the breakthrough came eventually, after 63 minutes.

Keane, full of eager running, set up the opportunity with a clever pass flicked over his head and Smith did the rest, controlling the ball on his chest before jabbing it past Schwarzer for his first goal at Elland Road since last November. A one-handed save by Nigel Martyn from Szilard Nemeth 15 minutes from time kept the lead intact, although the England goalkeeper was relieved to see the substitute Dean Windass flash a later header wide.

Leeds United 1 Middlesbrough 0
Smith 63

Half-time: 0-0 Attendance: 40,218