As the dust settles on a controversy packed match at Elland Road yesterday, in which United passed up a golden opportunity to take all 3 points, there was a huge sense of relief at least managing to escape with their unbeaten league record intact. Prior to the game boss Dennis Wise had expressed his concerns that Leeds might not get a fair crack of the whip from match official Nigel Miller, but it was the Whites themselves who benefitted from some less than convincing decisions.
Leyton Orient arrived at Elland Road on the back of a poor recent run, but as is usually the case with visiting teams they managed a huge improvement for their appearance against Leeds. And when the O's Sean Thornton curled a ninth minute free-kick over the outstretched hand of Casper Ankergren United's worst fears were confirmed.
However, the goalscorer was soon taking an early bath after leading with his elbow in a challenge with Seb Carole and being shown a straight red card, much to his apparent disbelief. Leeds quickly took control of the game and the equaliser arrived in the 55th minute courtesy of an excellent angled strike from Carole. With 10 minutes remaining Seb was again at the centre of the action when he went down tamely after a shove from Paul Terry and was awarded a dubious penalty.
Tresor Kandol was in immediate possession of the ball, but duly dispatched his spot kick high into a despairing Kop. The miss sparked Orient into a spate of frenzied attacks, and it looked to have paid dividends when a shot from Adam Boyd squirmed under Ankergren's body. The ball clearly crossed the line before Casper clawed it back, but the official waved play on and United boss Wise was counting his good fortune. 'I haven't seen whether the ball was over the line but if it was, we've had a bit of luck. We didn't have much luck last season so these things even themselves out'
