Crystal Palace 0 Leeds United 0 – Gaby gets dirty. When you look at this away point gained after two defeats, it looks like a worthy one. Leeds have been poor this season away. When you factor in Gudmundsson’s sending off before half-time, it becomes a moral victory. But Leeds remain three points clear of the drop zone. DCL’s miss was unforgivable and indicative of a team going through a flat period, whilst West Ham closes the gap.
Farke went for an attacking line-up to show his intent to win the game, with both Calvert-Lewin to hold up the ball and Nmecha to take it forward. With Bijol brought back into defence, this looked like a strong line-up. Crystal Palace have their Strand-Larsson, who we tried to sign in the January window.
It was a first half in which we waited desperately for the football to break out. With the wind blowing, neither team was able to get any flow going with their passes. In a weekend of poor matches, this was no exception. Palace tried to expose weaknesses in Leeds defending corners and long throws, but Rodon was imperious in marshalling the troops. When Leeds managed to get the ball to their feet, they put Palace under pressure but when Calvert-Lewin was in front of goal, their keeper was never really tested.
Towards the end of the first half, the game finally woke up, but for all the wrong reasons for Leeds. A clear handball by Hughes gave Calvert-Lewin a penalty, and yet he managed to miss an open net as the keeper went the wrong way. Instead of regrouping, Bijol managed to make an innocuous foul that had the Palace bench jumping for a second yellow card. Once things had calmed down, both managers were yellow-carded. And yet still in injury time, Gudmundsson got caught in a late tackle and was yellow-carded by the referee. It took a good half-minute of reminders by Palace players and the fourth official to realise he had already booked Gudmundsson and show the red card. It begs the question whether the referee, if he knew what he was doing, would have settled for a final warning. It says how poor the officiating was when Glasner and Farke walked off together, chatting away.
At the start of the second half, Farke went from a 3-5-2 to a 5-3-1 with both Aaronsson and Nmecha replaced by the more defensive Bogle and Gruev. Watching a ten-man Leeds spend half a match defending their goal in the Premier League should have been nerve-racking, but Palace made it easy for Leeds with their side-to-side passing. They lacked ideas of how to break through the low block, with their fans increasingly frustrated about how Darlow was hardly being tested. Rodon was ever present to head away any crosses, so poor was their creativity. When Brennan played a one-two from a corner that led to a Palace goal, he was offside – Leeds were let off the hook.
Brennan should not have lasted the match – with a cynical foul in the second half, he should have received a second yellow card – maybe the referee knew he already had one, but it was inconsistent refereeing, and the fans knew it. Even with Mateta brought on for the woeful Strand Larrson, it was Stach who had the best shot on goal, not giving up. If Gaby had not got dirty, we could have won this one.
Man of the match: Rodon was ever present and snuffed out every Palace attack.
