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LONDON, Nov 10: Leeds United survived a strong West Ham United comeback to earn a thrilling 4-3 victory at Upton Park in the English Premier League Sunday and ease the pressure on their manager Terry Venables.
West Ham, who have failed to win any of their eight home games this season, paid the price for a terrible first half performance when they conceded four goals, two of them scored by Australian striker Harry Kewell.
The London side responded to under-fire manager Glenn Roeder’s halftime team talk and pulled two goals back through Paolo Di Canio and Trevor Sinclair but could not quite force a draw.
“I’m very pleased,” a relieved Venables told Sky Sports television after only Leeds’s second win in 10 games.
“Three points for us is very important but we made difficult work of it in the second half.”
Di Canio, who has still to agree a new contract with West Ham, said: “The team that took their chances won. For 25 minutes in the first half we lost our position. We conceded some silly goals.”
In Sunday’s other game Sunderland were due to kick off against Tottenham Hotspur at the Stadium of Light at 1605 GMT.
Nick Barmby gave Leeds a perfect start at Upton Park when he headed past a dozing West Ham defence after only 11 minutes.
Di Canio, easily West Ham’s best player, levelled for the home side but more abject defending allowed Kewell, with a free header and a volley, to make it 3-1.
His compatriot Mark Viduka added a fourth before halftime after an awful back pass by West Ham defender Christian Dailly, prompting some of the home fans to walk out in disgust.
But Roeder, his position as manager in peril, rallied his players during the interval and they almost pulled off a famous recovery.
Di Canio earned and scored a penalty five minutes into the second half, Trevor Sinclair’s header made it 4-3 and defender Ian Pearce could have earned a draw but his late header flashed just wide.
Leeds jumped five places to 10th with the win. West Ham stayed fourth from bottom but would slip into the relegation zone if Sunderland beat Spurs.
MIHAJLOVIC PENALTY MISS
MILAN: Lazio missed out on a chance to close the gap on the leading trio in Serie A after they were held to a goalless draw at home by Parma Sunday.
Lazio defender Sinisa Mihajlovic, who missed a penalty in the recent Rome derby, failed again as he struck a spot kick against the post in the 25th minute.
The Rome side were down to ten men for the second half after midfielder Fabio Liverani was sent off in the 36th minute for throwing the ball in the face of Parma defender Matteo Ferrari.
The result means Roberto Mancini’s side were unable to make much ground on leaders Inter Milan who suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday, losing 2-1 at home to Udinese.
Champions Juventus host second-placed AC Milan later on Sunday.
Chievo move level on points with Lazio after they enjoyed a fourth straight win with a 4-1 victory over bottom club Atalanta — Federico Cossato scoring twice for the Verona club.
ITALIAN FIRST DIVISION RESULTS
Bologna 1 Como 0
Brescia 0 Empoli 2
Chievo Verona 4 Atalanta 1
Lazio 0 Parma 0
Perugia 2 Torino 1
Reggina 0 Modena 1
Played Saturday
Inter Milan 1 Udinese 2
Piacenza 1 AS Roma 1
—Reuters
