Bournemouth failed to capitalise on some late chances, as Leeds hold on to their early goal giving them them all three points against the Cherries.
Luke Murphy’s first half effort gave Leeds their first win since November as French striker Yann Kermorgant failed to convert his spot kick five minutes from time.
Leeds defender Giuseppe Bellusci was shown a late red card for his tackle on Callum Wilson, who was through on goal. Kermorgant’s subsequent penalty failed to hit the target, as it struck the top of the crossbar, and edged over
The Cherries remain top of the table by one point, although an Ipswich win on the weekend would see Eddie Howe’s side drop down a place, surrendering their lead.
Bournemouth top-scorer Wilson almost opened his account inside the first five minutes as his shot dribbled wide of the post, after a neat run from his own half.
However, Neil Readfern’s side certainly had the better chances during the opening spell, as Artur Boruc was tested by a long range shot from Luke Murphy, managing to tip his effort over the bar.
Boruc returned to Eddie Howe’s starting line up after not appearing against Rotherham last weekend, and he was unable to stop Murphy’s next effort, as his shot from the edge of the area was delicately placed, drifting into the top corner of Bournemouth’s net after thirty-six minutes.
Bournemouth striker Brett Pitman had the ball in the back of the net, but his tap-in was ruled out assertively, as the linesman raised his flag for offside.
Some good pressure from Bournemouth towards the end of the first half came to no avail as some good saves from Marco Silvestri made it difficult for the Cherries to break Leeds down.
Wilson was again looking the most likely to score for the away side, but uncharacteristically failed to find the net after some good runs through on goal.
Eddie Howe made three substitutions in a short space of time, bringing on Yann Kermorgant, Junior Stanislas and Dan Gosling.
As the clock ticked into the final ten minutes of ordinary time, Mark Pugh hit the post with his shot from inside the area coming tantalizingly close to making it all square.
Bournemouth looked to have found the answer to take a point back to the south coast as Wilson was brought down by Bellusci, who was subsequently shown a red card. Kermorgant failed to add to his six league goals so far this season, and in turn will be devastated as his miss inevitably gifted Leeds United maximum points in a rare victory.
Eddie Howe’s men will be disappointed to lose their second game in the last three, especially since they created good opportunities on goal throughout the match. It was only the first time the Cherries hadn’t scored in a competitive game since September, and will need to improve on their performance as they face Premier League opponents Aston Villa this weekend.
Photo credit: AFC Bournemouth