(At Turf Moor, Attendance 9,005, h/t 2-2)
As has been the trend this pre-season, the hosts had the first opportunity to open the scoring but a mixture of poor finishing and bad luck let United off the hook.
On six minutes former Bradford City striker Robbie Blake managed to snake his way to the byline and put in a cross that should have been cut out but instead was met by Gareth Taylor four yards out who somehow managed to side foot it over the bar.
The early warning was not heeded though as Burnley continued to press forward and two minutes later, the ball broke on the edge of the box and Richard Chaplow hit it first time, the ball just creeping under Paul Robinson's outstretched right arm for 1-0.
Viduka, who was substituted at York to avoid him being sent off, was in trouble again when his frustration saw him foul Gnohere with a rash tackle, leading to a stern ticking off from the referee.
Glen Little, a rumoured transfer target for The Whites, could have doubled Burnley's advantage but shot over from the edge of the area.
United gradually fought their way back into the game, largely through the running of Alan Smith, who was the first to force a save out of Clarets keeper Brian Jensen with a low drive from 18 yards which earned a corner.
From that corner Leeds grabbed a simple equaliser on the quarter hour mark. Harte swung in the ball and both Jensen and Alan Smith mistimed their jump for the ball, but it fell nicely instead for Mark Viduka who could not miss with a simple tap in from four yards.
No one was able to beat Gareth Taylor for height as he jumped for a cross at the far post and the striker headed the ball across the face of the box and over Robinson for Ian Moore to nod home Burnley's second goal.
Unable to get a stranglehold on the game, United could not retain possession for long, and mistakes were leading to more and more chances for the home side.
On 25 minutes Jody Morris played a back pass that was easily cut out by Taylor, but Robinson stood his ground well on the edge of the box and spared Morris the embarrassment of having given way a goal on his debut.
Still, United could show their class when it counted, and in Alan Smith, we proved we still have a top quality player.
Just past the half-hour, mark Jason Wilcox saw Smith ready to make his run between the two Burnley centre-halves and Wilcox obliged with the perfect chip over defence, which Smithy was onto like a flash and comfortably beat Jensen with a low drive when he was left with just the keeper to beat. That made it 2-2.
All hell broke loose just before half-time when a challenge from Morris led to angry exchanges between both sides as the game threatened to envelop into a mass brawl. The referee Trevor Leake was able to quickly calm things down and showed common sense when he simply called on the sides to shake hands and make up.
Handbags at 12 paces!
On 56 minutes, David Batty was judged to have pulled back Robbie Blake as the forward skipped into the area and the referee showed little hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Blake stepped up to take the kick himself and slotted it past Robinson, although the United keeper guessed the right way.
United made more changes with Zoumana Camara, David Batty and Gary Kelly all having been given an hour, with Kilgallon, Barmby and McPhail all coming on.
James Milner looked bright in attack and despite not having added the pounds to his frame that Peter Reid would like to see, certainly still managed to put himself about. His persistence nearly led to a third equaliser for United when he won back the ball and played Barmby in for a shot on the right of the area. Jensen got down well to block the shot though and the chance went begging.
A reckless moment from Michael Duberry on 73 minutes led to a second penalty being rewarded. Burnley swung in a corner that flew towards the edge of the area where Duberry went for the ball with an outstretched arm catching the head of Gareth Taylor in the process. It was a needless penalty to give away and it was dutifully put past Robinson by Ian Moore, hit high into the top right hand corner.
Alan Smith came closest to reducing the arrears for United when he tried a shot from 25-yards with five minutes left that just skipped wide. He was replaced by Simon Johnson straight afterwards, but it had been a good performance by Smithy.
The scoreline reflected United lost by two goals, but in reality, it was two un-necessary mistakes that had again ended up costing Peter Reid's men the game. Conceding 5 goals in the last two matches, 3 being penalties, shows a lack of discipline.
Leeds: Robinson, Mills, Harte, Batty (McPhail 61), Duberry, Camara (Kilgallon 61), Kelly (Barmby 61), Morris, Viduka (Milner h/t), Smith (Simon Johnson 85), Wilcox (Rodrigo h/t).
Burnley: Jensen, Roche (West 61), Camara, Weller (Grant 61), Branch, Little (Alan Moore 61), Blake (O'Neill 65), Taylor, Ian Moore, Gnohere, Chaplow.