SUNDERLAND'S first - and last - competitive venture into Europe came courtesy of a memorable 1973 FA Cup final victory over Leeds United.

It would be ironic if this sixth consecutive Premiership defeat at the hands of the Yorkshiremen put the kibosh on the team's hopes of climbing high enough in the League this season to win a place among the Continental elite.

Make no mistake about it, this sickening setback certainly took the wind out of Sunderland's sails - and left supporters in a record 48,265 crowd wondering if the recent European hype was all destined to become pie in the sky.

After six Premiership games without a win a shock 4-2 victory at Chelsea gave the Wearsiders - and their fans - a badly-needed shot in the arm. But the home game against Leeds, everyone knew, was going to be the acid test. And Sunderland, to be brutally honest, failed it.

Now, with seven games to go, including two North-East derbies, Sunderland have everything to do to improve a run which has brought a disappointing six points from a possible 24 and elevate themselves to a higher plane.

Certainly Sunderland will have to produce better than they did against Leeds to achieve the necessary improvement.

They were second best to a more accomplished side who have already proved their credentials by reaching the last eight of the Champions League.

There could be an argument that Leeds' best player, the £18m Rio Ferdinand, might have received a sterner reaction from stricter referees than the summary dismissal of what appeared a blatant foul on Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips before Leeds opened the scoring.

But at best it was a foul outside the box and no-one could really have imagined that the richly-talented England defender would have been shown a red card. Whether Sunderland would have profited is equally debatable.

What is irrefutable is that a minute later the home defence was caught totally flat-footed as polished fullback Ian Harte swung over a left wing corner. It brought two free headers, the second of which, from striker Alan Smith, soared into the roof of the net.

Before this Sunderland's questionable offside trap had twice been breached by Ian Bowyer - and twice the England midfielder let the home side off the hook with pathetic finishes.

But Leeds, having drawn first blood, settled and looked decidedly efficient in everything they did, defending with no-nonsense clearances and threatening to provide the powerful Mark Viduka with the opening his persistence always promised, despite the close attentions of Brazilian defender Emerson Thome.

Only the skills of quicksilver Argentinian Julio Arca caused the Leeds defence any real discomfort, but the crowd favourite failed to shoot Sunderland a lifeline when they most needed it.

Leeds, who almost increased their lead when Smith was denied a second goal in the 56th minute by a brilliant, one-handed save from Thomas Sorensen, seemed to be coasting.

But then Smith, booked in the first half, succumbed to a moment of madness when he aimed a retaliatory hack at Sunderland's new recruit Patrice Carteron, and was given his marching orders in the 71st minute.

Sunderland, offered a lifeline, put the United goal under siege, with Arca leading the way with a 20-yard left foot shot which goalkeeper Nigel Martyn desperately pushed behind.

Arca was undoubtedly Sunderland's best player. But he was guilty of the miss of the match in the 82nd minute when he blasted over a left foot shot from ten yards when he should have had the presence of mind to equalise.

A minute after making a hash of a gift of a chance following a spectacular collision between Thome and Sorensen, Viduka made amends. He claimed his 20th goal of the season in the first minute of stoppage time with a simple tap-in after a quick freekick and a slide-rule pass from substitute Robbie Keane.

Sunderland manager Peter Reid argued that the Ferdinand incident could have been the turning point of the game, though counterpart David O'Leary pointed out that Leeds were denied a similar advantage when central defender Jody Craddock brought down the free-running Smith just outside the box early in the second half.

O'Leary said: "If the referee had given a freekick on the edge of the box we couldn't have complained, but both sides had the same situation in the same areas of the pitch."

Reid, however, responded: "Ours was first and decisions like that can change games. Ours was a crucial one at a crucial stage of the game. If that decision had gone our way we would have been in front."

He added: "It was a very disappointing result against a top-class side, but we still have seven games to go and we are still in with a shout. Our performance wasn't as bad as the score-line suggests."

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