For it does seem likely that the Everton plebiscite will favour a move from the hallowed arena so illuminated by Kendall in his playing days (if not, as it turned out, by Biley). If so, heads will have prevailed over hearts, which is how it should be.But this head v heart business, like all local derbies, has been hard-fought. Some of the happiest moments of my formative years were spent on Goodison’s Gwladys Street terraces, always beside the same stanchion, from which a scally known as Fozzie Bear led us in song My memory is full of vivid snapshots … Bob Latchford’s penalty against Chelsea in April 1978 making him the first man to score 30 league goals, for which he won a £10,000 prize from, coincidentally, the Daily Express …

and most vivid of all, Andy King hammering the ball past Ray Clemence, on a sunny day in October the same year, to secure Everton’s first victory over Liverpool for 362 whole weeks.Bill Kenwright’s Goodison snapshots go much further back, to the 1950s, yet the Everton owner and vice-chairman has bravely advocated the move while also ensuring, to his eternal credit, that the fans have been involved every step of the way I talked to him yesterday Even filling in his own ballot form was painful, he told me “Honest to God, I stared at it for 10 minutes,” he said. “It was like signing to have your dog put down.” As for the future, if the King’s Dock proposal does get the thumbs up, there is then the small matter of beating six other bidders for the site. Kenwright, never slow to marry football with another passion, the movies, explained it thus: “We would have to be Yul Brynner, or Steve McQueen, and make sure the others are Horst Bucholtz, Brad Dexter, Robert Vaughn, Charles Bronson and James Coburn.” Yee-hah!. When Leeds last beat Arsenal by a solitary goal, namely Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s late diving header 18 months earlier, their victory effectively delivered the Premiership title to Manchester United. Olivier Dacourt’s winner at Elland Road yesterday was nowhere near as dramatic but, unusually for a Leeds success, it will have been greeted with similar glee at Old Trafford. When Leeds last beat Arsenal by a solitary goal, namely Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s late diving header 18 months earlier, their victory effectively delivered the Premiership title to Manchester United.

Olivier Dacourt’s winner at Elland Road yesterday was nowhere near as dramatic but, unusually for a Leeds success, it will have been greeted with similar glee at Old Trafford.
Arsenal now trail the champions by eight points without any games in hand. The goals have dried up and their discipline is in danger of disintegrating. Seven visitors were booked, compared with one from Leeds, and security officials had to form a guard around the referee, Dermot Gallagher, as they harangued him in the tunnel afterwards.Arsÿne Wenger, comme toujours, felt Arsenal were unfairly treated by Mr Gallagher, though his assessment of the title race seemed admirably sensible. “I’m not conceding anything yet, but you have to be realistic,” the Arsenal manager said.

“It’s just a shame for the league.”Eight years to the day after Leeds sold Eric Cantona to Alex Ferguson, it was quite an afternoon for the French. Dacourt, having been relieved of his status as the club’s costliest recruit by Rio Ferdinand, was inundated by compatriots in the Arsenal line-up wanting to embrace him before kick-off. But the French kissing was soon forgotten as the teams tore into each other in lashing rain, and the kiss of death came 11 minutes into the second half.Ray Parlour took Dacourt’s legs from behind as he powered through the centre. Ian Harte has tended to have a monopoly of Leeds’ free-kicks from such range – 22 yards out – but Dacourt clearly sensed that it was his day. His rising drive into the defensive wall took a deflection off Arsenal’s Cameroonian midfielder, Lauren, which did enough to divert it beyond Alex Manninger’s reach.It was Dacourt’s first goal since arriving from Lens during the summer and he was later booked as a match which both sides needed to win simmered menacingly. There were times during a feisty and frenetic throwback of a first half when it might have been Billy Bremner tangling with Peter Storey.

Arsenal, in particular, seemed determined to take no prisoners.Martin Keown, agitated by a succession of robust challenges by Alan Smith, exacted retribution by clattering Lee Bowyer from behind and was fortunate to stay on. Lauren, cautioned as early as the fifth minute, was also lucky that the officials did not see him take out Harte after the ball had gone.Arsenal also had the greater threat in more legitimate terms. The pace of Sylvain Wiltord and Thierry Henry gave the Leeds centre-backs several reminders of why Ferdinand will be an asset in more than one sense of the word.Had Arsenal played the ball to feet more instead of resorting to hopeful long balls, Leeds might have been embarrassed. As it was they were indebted to Paul Robinson for a sprawling parry from a Henry free-kick, and to wastefully wide shooting by Robert Pires and Wiltord after the ball had been cut back to them by Henry and Silvinho respectively.Leeds have made a habit out of maximising the potential of limited possession; Uefa statistics for the first phase of the Champions’ League revealed that they saw less of the ball than any of the 16 qualifiers for the second round. They were always dangerous at set-pieces, with Eirik Bakke glancing wide from a Bowyer free-kick and Gary Kelly bludgeoning another such award narrowly wide from 35 yards.From open play, Leeds created only two chances before scoring. Both stemmed from crosses and it was their misfortune that the first fell to Jason Wilcox, who is not noted for his heading and nodded tamely to Manninger, while Woodgate sent a harder chance wide after Harte’s centre found him.Although Harte’s volley shook their left-hand post on the hour, Arsenal dominated the second half territorially. Patrick Vieira shrugged off his early lethargy and began to drive them forward.