Venables lauds Leeds ‘disciplined performance’

Metalurg Zaporizhia 1

Venables felt his players took a battering from their UEFA Cup first-round opponents, before emerging on the night with a 1-1 draw and a 2-1 aggregate victory. United were made to sweat, though, for extra time loomed as they trailed to a 24th-minute goal from Georgian striker Irakli Modebadze. But with chances few and far between as Metalurg defended in numbers, Nick Barmby repaid a large slice of his £2.75m summer fee with the vital equalising goal 14 minutes from time to send Leeds through to next Tuesday's second-round draw.

Venables, though, was bitterly unhappy with some of the tackles his players received, which ultimately lead to the 80th minute dismissal of Uros Milosavljevic. The Yugoslav, who had brought down Barmby to earn his second caution, added insult to injury by appearing to spit at the England international as he lay on the pitch, while Venables described some of the challenges as "unbelievable, incredible."