Leeds United 3, Portsmouth 3

Andy O’Brien’s injury time own-goal gifted Portsmouth a point in a six-goal Elland Road thriller today which saw Leeds United surrender a two-goal lead for the second successive game.

Simon Grayson’s entertainers took their npower Championship goals tally to 44 but their defensive frailty surfaced again and they have now conceded 40 league goals this season.

Leeds went into the Christmas programme in second place but successive draws have dropped them into fourth.

Grayson said: “It is frustrating that we were 2-0 and then 3-1 up and still didn’t win the game. We were two up at Leicester on Sunday as well before drawing so we could have had six points and we have come out with two.

“I was pleased with the players’ work ethic and that we extended our unbeaten run to 11 games but we made individual mistakes again.

"Kasper Schmeichel and Andy O’Brien had a breakdown in communication for the late equaliser but they had done well earlier in the game.

“Ross McCormack had a stonewall penalty turned down. I asked the referee why he hadn’t given it and he just said it wasn’t a penalty.

"It was a big decision. I thought the referee was very average for both teams, and that is putting it mildly.

"Our fans are very knowledgeable and they don’t give the referee stick without a reason. I am not going to say he was a bad referee but I agree with them,” he grinned.

“We conceded goals again but the positives outweighed the negatives. We just need a more professional mindset when we are ahead.”

Luciano Becchio was named on the Leeds bench after picking up injuries in the 2-2 draw at Leicester on Sunday, so Billy Paynter made his first start since joining from Swindon in July and McCormack was handed his first start since September, Neil Kilkenny making way.

Portsmouth were so short-handed that they could name only five substitutes instead of the usual seven.

United survived an early scare when Dave Kitson and David Nugent combined to leave Jon Utaka in the clear but Schmeichel hurled himself to his left and got a hand to the ball.

Then two goals in a three-minute spell had Leeds fans in a bumper Elland Road crowd of 31,556 celebrating prematurely.

With seven minutes gone, Max Gradel opened the scoring, as he had done at his old club Leicester two days earlier.

Paynter failed to turn in Paul Connolly’s cross from the right but Gradel appeared at the far post to stab the ball in for his fifth goal in four games.

The cheers had hardly died down when McCormack hoisted a high centre from the left and Jonny Howson left former Leeds defender Carl Dickinson and South Africa captain Aaron Mokoena flat-footed as he drifted in from the right to shoot between keeper Jamie Ashdown and the left post.

Pompey’s defence was in disarray, with Robert Snodgrass giving left back Dickinson a torrid time, the defender on loan from Stoke losing his man time after time.

Kitson’s overhead shot from Utaka’s corner wasn’t far wide for the visitors, and the former Stoke striker’s height caused occasional problems for the Leeds rearguard.

When he got his head to another corner from Utaka, Kitson saw McCormack make a goal-line clearance and Leeds had lost their way after their lightning start.

Sure enough, Pompey got the goal they had threatened when Richard Hughes played a splendid through ball to David Nugent and the England international’s angled shot sped past Schmeichel before the Danish keeper could blink.

Snodgrass continued to torment Dickinson and the flying Scot went close to scoring either side of the interval.

Portsmouth sent on Kanu and Ibrahima Sonko for Joel Ward and Ricardo Rocha but when a corner by Snodgrass was cleared to Bradley Johnson, he made it 3-1 in the 62nd minute with an unstoppable left-foot volley from just inside the penalty box.

Still Leeds couldn’t relax and Pompey hit straight back, Kanu having a shot blocked before Hughes forced the ball home at close quarters.

McCormack had a goal ruled out and when the same player was clearly fouled inside the penalty area by Sonko, referee David Webb inexplicably waved play on amid deafening jeers from Leeds’ supporters.

Hughes almost pulled Pompey level in the 87th minute, Schmeichel pulling off an instinctive save, but the equaliser arrived deep into injury time as substitute Nadir Ciftci’s centre from the right was turned into his own net by O’Brien.