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Leeds United 0 Oldham Athletic 2

Gavin Browne
18/ 8/2008

TWO second-half goals from Chris Taylor provided Latics with two wins from two games and a second victory in seven months at Elland Road.

While the winger will grab his share of the limelight for the goals, it was a collective team performance that rattled the home side and their share of the 24,631 fans present.

Sean Gregan, making his first return to Elland Road, was immense at the back alongside Reuben Hazell, Mark Allott and Danny Whitaker were effective shields in front of the back four, while Taylor looked dangerous every time he had the ball.

With five of Latics' starting XI having played in the 3-1 New Year’s Day victory at Leeds, few - if any - of the players should have been overawed at playing in front of a 20,000-plus crowd.

Although United's fanbase has rightly been lauded, such support can be a double-edged sword should the crowd become increasingly twitchy if Leeds are not winning. It looked as if they might have something to cheer about early on as  Leeds flew out of the traps, dominating possession and forcing a series of corners and free kicks.

Latics' rearguard were tested by the front three of Jermaine Beckford, Enoch Showunmi and Robert Snodgrass, the latter whipping in a number of inswinging set pieces.

For all their possession though, Leeds were unable to create any clear cut chances or force Mark Crossley into a save of note. Snodgrass, Beckford and Rui Marques all failed to hit the target against an Oldham side who got into the game more as the first half progressed.

Taylor proved a nuisance for Frazer Richardson, cutting inside and shooting straight at Casper Ankergren, while Whitaker shot wide with half-time approaching.

The majority of Elland Road was stunned into silence five minutes into the second half when Lee Hughes beat Ankergren to the ball from the right. Although Hughes' struck the bar from a tight angle, Taylor enjoyed the freedom of Leeds to head the rebound into an empty net from two yards.

Lewis Alessandra was denied a second goal four minutes later by an offside flag, while Showunmi claimed he should have had a penalty following a tussle with Gregan - the Latics skipper making his point of view known to the crowd by indicating his shirt was being pulled.

The crucial second goal came in the 65th minute when Hughes chested Kelvin Lomax's throw into Taylor's path before he cut inside and fired a left-footed shot into the corner of the net.

Despite introducing Fabian Delph and Luciano Becchio, Leeds remained unable to test Crossley bar routine saves from Becchio and Alan Sheehan.

Alessandra should have made the game completely safe with four minutes left, racing onto Gregan's towering header and running clear of the defence. However, instead of shooting when he had the chance, he tried to round Ankergren who was able to get a hand on the loose ball - not that it mattered in the end.