Eagles fail to launch again as resilient ten-man Leeds United grab deserved point in turgid encounter

The Eagles

Crystal Palace 0-0 Leeds United

The sloth of Selhurst.

An announcement of five additional minutes at the end of this game was, without question, five minutes far too long.

For the second time in a matter of days, Crystal Palace, out of ideas, fired blanks. A team, jaded of mentality and conviction, unable to see off a spirited Leeds United side who earned a precious point in their battle for Premier League survival.

A scoreless bore this may have been, but Daniel Farke’s side demonstrated a keen resilience, an art in itself, to deny the Eagles. And the bold statistics of Palace not being able to capitalise on a red card at the end of the first half for Gabriel Gudmundsson and failing to register a shot on target speak volumes. Leeds, for their part, will rue a missed penalty at the end of the first half, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the guilty party.

A desperate affair, upon which Palace fans vented their displeasure at the climax. Sat on the self-satisfied rump of mid-table complacency and the departure of boss Oliver Glasner at the end of the season, only a decent shot at the Europa Conference League can lift the Eagles.

Palace started the game in 14^th place, but their seven point cushion over the Whites had given them sufficient room in terms of the rest of their overall season. Fortunately, in the wake of this afternoon of tedium, the Eagles can at least fully focus on Europe.

Drab

A return Conference League leg against AEK Larnaca is coming up next Thursday in Cyprus following a drab scoreless draw three days ago at Selhurst Park. But where will the goals come from? Not from the benched Jean Philippe-Mateta, that’s for sure. As for creativity, the omens didn’t look good when influential midfielder Adam Wharton started on the bench, so even a slice of creativity was absent.

Leeds United, on the other hand, still had a certain relegation danger hovering around them. The Whites were only a couple of points above fellow strugglers West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur. While lacking in obvious finesse themselves, a determined bout of resistance merited something from this.

Amid early struggles by both teams, the Yorkshire side went closest to breaking the deadlock in the 14^th minute, the first notable moment within a nervy start. Brenden Aaronson dragged a half volley wide from an angle when he should have hit the target. Dominic Calvert-Lewin quickly followed with a couple of powerful headers which were well held by Eagles’ goalkeeper Walter Benitez. Minor moments which were as exciting as it got in south-east London.

In the build up, Palace were criticised in some quarters for their inability to break down a well-organised Larnaca. They found similar problems once again here. The Eagles tend to prefer a more expansive tactical affair- witness their impressive 3-1 win at Tottenham recently - and Glasner regularly cuts a frustrated figure on the touchline as a result of facing a keenly drilled outfit. With Jaka Bijol and Pascal Struijk marshalling matters expertly at the heart of the Leeds defence, the hosts laboured throughout.

There was at least a note of drama at the end of the first half. Leeds were awarded a penalty in the 43^rd minute when Will Hughes inexplicably handled a long throw in to the Palace penalty area.

It presented a great opportunity for Calvert-Lewin to inject a bit of excitement – and a much needed advantage - for Leeds. However, the attacker pulled his effort wide of the post.

Lunge

With seconds remaining before the whistle, Gudmundsson saw red. A second bookable offence for the Icelander following lunge on Ismaila Sarr ensured the fare ended on a dramatic note, which was all too temporary.

Palace did restrict most of the incursions from Leeds for large periods of the second half. However, for the second game in succession at home, Glasner’s men lacked the requisite incision in the final third to make a tangible difference. Farke’s outfit defended superbly on those occasions when Palace examined them – Anton Stach, for instance, committed to getting his body in the way of goal bound efforts.

The presence of VAR denied the hosts what would have been a winner due to offside, when Jefferson Lerma bundled the ball home from close range after Leeds’ keeper Karl Darlow made an initial, magnificent save from his header.

In reality, a telling goal would have been a travesty amid Leeds’ excellent organisation, with ten men, across a turgid encounter. Crucially, Glasner will wonder just why his side could not make the advantage of an extra player count. A point each was just about the correct outcome.

Eagles: Benitez, Mitchell, Lacroix, Sarr, Lerma, Johnson (Pino 79), Hughes (Wharton 60), Strand-Larsen (Mateta 60), Canvot (Kamada 79), Richards, Guessand