Hull City goalkeeper Allan McGregor gifted Leeds an early Christmas present as Pablo Hernandez scored the only goal of the game to lift Leeds back into the top six.
The Northern Ireland internationals poor kick out found Hernandez and the little Spaniard provided a sublime finish by lobbing McGregor from the edge of the area.
It was a crucial win for Leeds as they made it five wins from their last seven games to go into the festive period in fifth place in the Championship.
The goal had come against the run of play as Hull dominated the early proceedings. The visitors almost took the lead inside two minutes when Leeds goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald did well to claw out a Kamil Grosicki effort.
Within ten minutes, Wiedwald produced another good save, this time to deny Nouha Dicko.
Hernandez scored the only goal of the game just before the half hour when he left McGregor red faced with his audacious chip after pouncing on the keepers poor clearance.
Hull came close to levelling but Jon Toral saw his effort from the edge of the area clip the outside of the post.
Leeds almost doubled the lead just before the break but McGregor made up for his earlier mistake with a good save to deny Ezgjan Alioski.
Leeds looked much stronger defensively in the second half, with chances at a premium for both sides. Substitute Kevin Stewart could only head over for Hull at a corner whilst Leeds sub Pierre-Michel Lasogga saw his effort from the edge of the area pushed to safety by McGregor.
A crucial three points for Leeds and they go into the Christmas period in fifth place in the Championship.
Teams
Leeds United
Wiedwald, Ayling, Jansson, Cooper, Berardi, Phillips (O`Kane 46), Vieira, Cibicki, Hernandez (Pennington 90), Roofe (Lassoga 76), Alioski
Subs not used
Lonergan, Shaughnessy, Anita, Grot
Hull City
McGregor, Tomori, Dawson, Mazuch (Stewart 31), Hector, Aina, Toral (Bowen 73), Irvine, Larsson, Dicko (Henriksen 80), Grosicki
Subs not used
Marshall, Clark, Diomande, Clackstone
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