LEEDS United added intensity and toughness to their game to surprise Sky Bet Championship leaders Derby County at Elland Road.

The Whites fully merited their 2-0 win – their first victory over the visitors at the 13th attempt.

The Derby hoodoo, which included a sequence of ten successive wins, was well and truly laid to rest by two-goal Italian Marco Antenucci.

Derby began brightly but their smoothe-passing style was stifled as Leeds adopted a more physical approach to get a foothold in the game.

Indeed, until Alex Mowatt created Antenucci’s opener just before half-time, the biggest talking point had been the five cautions dished out by referee Mick Russell in a frenetic 21-minute spell.

The card count mounted to nine by the final whistle by which time the Rams had failed to get a shot on target during the whole game.

“It was a bad day at the office. We could have played until midnight and not scored,” said York-born boss Steve McClaren, who watched most of the game from high in the West Stand press seats. His triple substitution added a bit more zip but no penetration, summed up by Kwame Thomas’s horrible miss on 81 minutes, wildly firing high from a great position.

Leeds, on the other hand, always looked a threat and in Antenucci had a man on top of his game. He twice came close to his hat-trick, curling one effort just wide of the woodwork, then forcing a fine low save from Lee Camp.

Some of the United defending was of the last-ditch variety in the early stages but they were held together by the experienced Stephen Warnock who revelled in the role of captain after the surprised omission of Jason Pearce.

Not only did he cover his centre-halves superbly, he pushed forward and provided the telling pass for Antenucci to calmly steer in the second goal on 50 minutes.

Leeds face another test of their mettle on Saturday at second-placed Ipswich where they will need to show similar steel in attempt to improve their poor away record.