City made an encouraging start, a Neil Kilkenny free kick causing uncertainty at the heart of the home defence in the opening moments. Centre-back Liam Fontaine threatened to take advantage as the ball bobbled on the edge of the six yard box, forcing Tom Lees to clear the danger.
Despite beating Birmingham in midweek to land an attractive FA Cup fourth round tie against Tottenham, Leeds lacked energy and ideas and a subdued Elland Road crowd had precious little to excite them until Ross McCormack fired wide from a free kick on 16 minutes.
Michael Brown sent a header harmlessly wide from another McCormack free kick, but City were able to deal comfortably with everything Leeds threw at them, much to the frustration of Whites boss Neil Warnock, who cut an animated figure on the touchline.
With Kilkenny restored to the team and pulling the strings in the centre of midfield, City enjoyed plenty of possession without quite mustering the guile required to engineer clear-cut chances in the final third.
But then, Leeds were no better and the contest degenerated into a featureless stalemate as two well-organised defences held sway.
City's only chance of note fell to Liam Kelly, who shot wide after being sent-up by Ryan Taylor.
At the other end, Diouf's wayward effort from range was greeted with ironic cheers from disgruntled home fans.
City looked well-organised and it was 42 minutes before Tom Heaton was called into meaningful action, the keeper dropping to his tight to gather a low drive from McCormack.
Stung into a response, Kilkenny teed-up Richard Foster, whose fierce shot was parried by Paddy Kenny.
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