Degryse leads rout of Leeds

Football round-up

A PLEASANT surprise awaited fans at Hillsborough expecting a dour Yorkshire derby between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United. Wednesday, who had lost four of their previous eight home matches, rediscovered the winning habit with a vengeance to defeat Howard Wilkinson's side 6-2.

The Owls were a goal up after only five minutes when their Belgian striker Marc Degryse headed in Lee Briscoe's cross. Leeds pressed for an equaliser but 13 minutes later they were caught on the break as Guy Whittingham finished off a crisp four-man move.

When Degryse added a third after 25 minutes a rout looked on the cards but three minutes later the Swedish striker Tomas Brolin scored a scrappy goal, his first for Leeds since a pounds 3.5m transfer from Parma.

Wednesday's manager David Pleat clearly gave the better half-time team talk. They came out and surged into a 5-1 lead, Mark Bright and David Hirst getting their names on the scoresheet before Rodney Wallace pulled one back for battered Leeds. Hirst's second, four minutes from the end, rammed home the extent of Leeds' continuing disarray.

Few managers would alter a side a week after it had comprehensively beaten the League Champions 5-0. Ron Atkinson made four changes to the Coventry City starting line-up which ran out at Aston Villa from the selection which had thrashed Blackburn the previous Saturday. Two were enforced (Chris Whyte and Steve Ogrizovic were suspended); two were not. Much good it did them.

Coventry had never won a League match at Villa and looked no closer to getting a victory when Tommy Johnson put the home side ahead after 12 minutes, ploughing through three tackles to score a fine individual goal. Things quickly got worse for the Sky Blues when they had Kevin Richardson sent off after his second booking and three minutes into the second half Savo Milosevic made it 2-0 to Villa.

But Coventry's 10 men, for whom Noel Whelan, the pounds 2m signing from Leeds, made his debut becoming the 29th player used by manager Ron Atkinson this season, reduced the margin when Dion Dublin netted six minutes later. But Milosevic scored twice more to complete his hat-trick and quash all thoughts of an upset.

Without a win in nine games and only three goals to their credit in the previous eight, Queen's Park Rangers badly needed encouragement from their clash with bottom club Bolton Wanderers in west London. They got it, nervily, in a 2-1 win. Simon Osborn put Rangers ahead four minutes before half- time but Bolton's Scott Sellars equalised a minute from the break, his first since joinging from Newcastle.

But Bolton are beginning to look utterly unsalvageable and when Andrew Impey gave Rangers the lead and the Lancastrians had their Icelandic defender, Gudni Bergsson, sent off all in the speace of three second half minutes the game looked up. It was. Bolton have lost all nine away matches in the Premiership.

Anfield stages another compelling match this afternoon when Liverpool entertain Manchester United. Liverpool must do without Ian Rush, Jamie Redknapp and Neil Ruddock and wait on flu victims Nigel Clough and John Scales. Jason McAteer, Phil Babb and Mark Kennedy all return from international duty.

In spite of his reserve team comeback for United, Roy Keane will not play but Ryan Giggs, Peter Schmeichel and Dennis Irwin all definitely return.