Nick Barmby made a dream start to his Leeds career by latching onto Lee Bowyer's deflected cross to open the scoring after only 15 minutes.
City twice hit the woodwork, Sun Jihai and Eyal Berkovic from long range, and Paul Robinson had to be at his best to thwart Marc Vivien Foe and Chris Shuker.
When Barmby turned provider to tee up Mark Viduka for a nerveless finish on the stroke of half time, there never looked like being a route back into the game for Kevin Keegan's men.
The lively Robbie Keane raced clear on 80 minutes before dinking a beautiful chip over Carlo Nash to seal the win for the Yorkshiremen.
However, the Republic of Ireland man was prematurely ready to celebrate another strike four minutes later, only to see his effort drift wide.
