Charlton Athletic 1 - 2 Leeds United

	Now, now ladies... Handbags get thrown at The Valley (JamieMcDonald/Allsport)

Goals in the opening minute of each half by Mark Viduka and Alan Smith stretched Leeds' unbeaten league run to eight and moved them up to fifth - on course for a realistic challenge to qualify for the Champions League.

But it might have been different had Leeds boss O'Leary not given his side a few home truths during the interval after a shockingly indisciplined first half. In that time, referee Clive Wilkes booked seven - five from Leeds - as the tackles and elbows went flying in.

Charlton boss Alan Curbishley thought Viduka and Danny Mills should have been sent off, Viduka for elbowing Scott Parker in the face and Mills for pole-axing the same player with a terribly late challenge.

The watching Sven Goran Eriksson had already seen more English football in the past three months than many fans manage in a decade, but this must still have come as quite a shock.

Even so, he could be pleased with the way Rio Ferdinand handled Jonatan Johansson - a possible dress rehearsal for next Saturday's World Cup qualifier between England and Finland - and that Chris Powell came through injury-free and with reputation intact. O'Leary said: 'Thank God we got to half-time and both managers were able to have a word with their players.'

The Leeds manager blamed ref Wilkes for the first-half farce when players seemed far more interested in settling old scores than playing attractive football.

O'Leary said: 'There were some strange, bizarre decisions and they got everyone heated up.'

In fairness to the over-worked Wilkes, some of the challenges he was required to deal with were well over the top.

The pressure of qualifying for Europe - and the millions of pounds that would earn their clubs - seemed to affect the judgement of all players.

Lying only three points behind sixth-placed Liverpool, Charlton can certainly still be considered candidates for a European adventure next season, however unlikely that idea may have seemed at the start of the season.

Viduka lit the touch paper with a goal after only 11 seconds, curling a low finish beyond Sasa Ilic after Smith had flicked on Ian Harte's long punt.

It was the Australian's 19th goal of the season. But when his blatant elbow on Parker a few minutes later received only a yellow card, both sets of players declared open season and forgot about the ball altogether for long periods. Amid the mayhem, Nigel Martyn was out-jumped by Shaun Bartlett to provide Charlton with an 18th minute equaliser that O'Leary conceded was 'stupid'.

It was to prove virtually the last piece of sensible football the first half had to offer.

Smith, a notable omission from Eriksson's first squad against Spain, did himself few favours in front of the England coach by launching a studsup tackle on Kishishev.

Then he was joined in the notebook by Johansson, Harry Kewell and Parker in quick succession.

Former Charlton defender Mills provoked a 14-man ruck by flattening Parker with a challenge which Curbishley reckoned 'deserved more than a booking'.

And David Batty was cautioned in the aftermath as Mr Wilkes struggled for control.

Perhaps tranquillisers were put in the half-time cuppas.

Certainly, Leeds were far more disciplined from the outset and they struck 60 seconds after the restart. Kewell fed Smith on the break and the youngster buried his first Premier-ship goal since October by firing low past Ilic.

Leeds then used their European experience to kill the game off, although they had to survive a strong, injury-time penalty appeal from Charlton when Johansson tumbled under a challenge from Mills.