The kind of day you just can’t shake off. Not one that will be easy either. Only light cheers at full time, even though Elland Road was barely half full at the time.
Leeds United, despite something of an upturn under Javi Gracia, were unfathomably bad. To illustrate: Jordan Ayew scored his first-ever brace in English football eight years after arriving.
Two points remain the gap between them and the bottom three after this failure to capitalize on Nottingham Forest and Leicester City’s weekend woes. But also a failure to capitalize on their own performance, which had been great for about 40 minutes. As soon as Crystal Palace’s first went in, that was it. Leeds folded the way they could under Jesse Marsch.
It means significant problems with not the easiest series of matches to come. Even without Wilfried Zaha, when Palace are given the space, their dangerous midfielders – especially the spry Michael Olise – can tear teams apart and it is now six points and seven goals ahead of Roy Hodgson’s renaissance.
That particular change of management seems to have worked miraculously, contrary to popular belief about the appointment, and there can’t be enough occasions where a Palace crowd has ever been able to work their way through the backend of Premier League- matches.
Patrick Bamford opened the scoring after 21 minutes, but Crystal Palace began to fight back
Bamford took his Leeds tally to 50 goals in all competitions against Palace
Marc Guehi was on hand to put a loose ball into the area to level the scores
Guehi’s first goal of the season saw Palace go into half time 1–1
It could have been so different. At their best, Leeds are playing at a furious pace and wore the look of a team that wanted this finished within the first 20 minutes – Palace blown away. Buoyed by the victory over Nottingham Forest in the most exciting relegation battle, there was an eagerness to capitalize.
They did and they didn’t. Did in terms of Patrick Bamford’s nimble header from Brenden Aaronson’s corner, complete with a satisfying kiss on the far post from Sam Johnstone as it came in. Tyrick Mitchell found himself marking Bamford and finished three yards from his man, just as he did when Pascal Struijk cleverly denied a similar header by Johnstone.
Leeds should have yielded more. An Aaronson flick, Luis Sinisterra goes wide, a Jack Harrison free kick. All close, Johnstone – on his Premier League debut for Palace – also palms away at Sinisterra.
But it was only one. Palace were shocked as teams can struggle at Elland Road but started to find space for Eberechi Eze in midfield and territory. Jeffry Schlupp somehow only found the post from the box on a corner, while Jordan Ayew looked wide for a set piece, a miss that left Hodgson gasping.
Disbelief was to switch quickly. Leeds imploded either side of half-time, conceding three times in the space of 10 minutes. The equalizer, in stoppage time, had an element of farce, Eze’s center shot in slow motion by Schlupp, Marc Guehi scored it much faster than Illan Meslier. He sipped it before Meslier’s version of Superman – both fists flying through the air – could get close to the ball. Hodgson remained unmoved.
There was no host reset; Palace turned out to have an extra man. Luke Ayling’s wild clearance through the half was reckless, possession went over and before Gracia could throw up arms, Olise was given plenty of room to find Ayew, who had headed in just a second goal since last May. Undisputed, as Ayling watched the jump.
Jordan Ayew climbed highest in the area to put Palace ahead five minutes after the restart
Eberechi Eze completed a slick action with Michael Olise and made it 3-1 a few minutes later
Eze increased his personal score in the Premier League to five for this season
Odsonne Edouard added to Leeds’ woes as he calmly found the bottom corner from 15 yards out
Javi Gracia looked furious at his team after a series of defensive errors at certain points
Ayew added his second and Palace’s fifth of the game after 77 minutes of play
Ayew was onside after a lengthy VAR check
It was all smiles from Roy Hodgson after his first win of his second spell at Palace
Leeds dangles two points above the relegation zone after the result on Easter Sunday
Hodgson has sent Palace to 12th and they are six points above the bottom three
Two quickly became three, five minutes before the hour. At this point, Leeds was shot. A vacancy in the middle of the field allowed Eze to go unfettered and attempt a long one-two with Olise. Eze swung, waltzed and prodded under Meslier.
Any answer? Hardly. A restlessness swirled, cries of frustration at not taking the right option at throw-in. Not doing things fast enough, misplaced passes. Leeds rushed forward trying to create anything, anything, and forgot what lay behind it. A sea of unmarked green.
Olise had the ball 80 yards from Meslier and yet Palace were four to two. Without any great urgency, Olise languidly jogged 60 of those yards before finally deciding he’d let someone else try it. Odsonne Edouard took one touch – not exactly sharp either – and rolled into the far corner.
Amazingly, they weren’t done yet – even though Leeds were some time in advance. Will Hughes was blocked when he tried to shoot, the block falling in Ayew’s path. Bringing in his second had never been easier.