Leeds United 1-0 Bournemouth

Leeds United's Luke Murphy scored his second goal in as many games against Bournemouth

Leeds United ended their eight game winless run with a victory over Championship leaders Bournemouth.

Luke Murphy earned his side a point against Birmingham on Saturday and netted the winner against the Cherries with a stunning left-footed strike.

Bournemouth were awarded a penalty late on and Giuseppe Bellusci was sent off for fouling a goal-bound Callum Wilson.

But Yann Kermorgant hit the bar with the resulting spot-kick, handing Leeds a valuable three points.

Bournemouth remain top by a point but have Ipswich and Middlesbrough close behind - the latter moving up to second following their win over Cardiff on Tuesday.

Leeds, meanwhile, moved six points clear of the relegation zone.

United beat the Cherries 3-1 at the Goldsands Stadium in September but have claimed only three victories since then - against Huddersfield, Blackpool and Derby.

And while Neil Redfearn's side had taken three points from their last seven Championship outings, Bournemouth secured 18 from the same number of games.

But it was the hosts who enjoyed the better first half and went into half-time ahead thanks to Murphy's second goal in as many matches.

The 25-year-old's powerful strike curled into the top corner on 36 minutes and left goalkeeper Artur Boruc well beaten.

Bournemouth thought they had levelled minutes later but Brett Pitman was ruled offside after he pounced on a parried ball from Marco Silvestri, and the Leeds keeper then kept out Wilson's downward header.

Kermorgant and Dan Gosling were introduced early in the second half but a miscommunication between the pair saw neither get on the end of Wilson's cross from the right.

Eddie Howe's side looked to be on course to salvaging a point when Bellusci saw red for tripping Wilson, but in snowy conditions at Elland Road, Kermorgant failed to convert from the spot.

Leeds boss Neil Redfearn:

"I spoke to owner Massimo Cellino on Monday and obviously he was a little bit flat, you can imagine so.

"But he basically said nothing changes. He said it's still my football club, I'm still in charge of it, somebody else will sign the cheques, somebody else will be in front of it, but it's business as usual.

"He wants it to do well. He's as focused and driven as ever and the good thing is the performance shows this club is alive and kicking."

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe:

"The big disappointment for us was the way we started and the way we gave Leeds the chance to get their crowd behind them early in the game.

"Our game-plan was to quieten the crowd and try and make a fast start, but Leeds put us under pressure and they played well in the first half.

"They scored a good goal and unfortunately for us it just seemed to be one of those nights when the ball wouldn't go in for us."