Kyle Newbould: I watched Leeds United's 0-0 draw vs Crystal Palace - here are my 3 key conclusions
Lessons learned from Leeds United's defensively solid performance at Selhurst Park.
Leeds United produced an admirable defensive performance with 10 men to draw 0-0 at Crystal Palace on Sunday. Gabriel Gudmundsson was dismissed minutes after Dominic Calvert-Lewin dragged a penalty wide in a chaotic end to the first half at Selhurst Park.
In response, Daniel Farke made two defensive changes and despite being a man down, Leeds looked relatively comfortable for large parts of the second half. Jefferson Lerma put the ball in Karl Darlow’s net but it was swiftly ruled out for an offside in the build-up.
Leeds had a few half-chances of their own but with the focus on keeping Palace out, they fought tooth and nail to maintain their clean sheet. Below, the YEP looks at some of the key takeaways from a potentially huge point.
Big double selection decision
In the build-up to Sunday’s Selhurst Park trip, there was a debate to be had around two key positions and Farke acted on both. He started Lukas Nmecha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, while Jaka Bijol did enough against Norwich City to earn a starting place between Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk.
Neither change went perfectly. Nmecha actually operated more as a left-winger and lasted only 45 minutes before being taken off as part of a defensive double-change. Bijol looked shaky in the opening exchanges and escaped a second yellow for a foul on Ismaila Sarr which while not a booking, had Palace players surrounding Bramall.
In the end it was the pair they replaced who came on at half-time and had a positive impact, with Ilia Gruev and Jayden Bogle both playing their part in a solid defensive performance. But the initial changes were positive and what a lot of people wanted to see.
How’s your luck, Leeds United?
It’s a long-held belief among managers and players that refereeing decisions even out over the course of a season. If that’s true, Leeds are due an unprecedented run of fortune between now and late-May. On Sunday again, they fell the wrong side of a hugely controversial performance from Thomas Bramall more often than not.
He got the Leeds penalty right, and Gudmundsson’s first booking was correct as well, but after that it felt like everything went against Farke’s side. Bramall had seemingly forgotten about that first yellow card for the Swede and after brandishing an incredibly soft caution, had to be reminded of the fact and a red followed.
How Brennan Johnson escaped the same fate midway through the second-half for stopping a James Justin counter-attack while already booked it anyone’s guess. After the Manchester City handball that never was and Luke O’Nien’s missed foul on Pascal Struijk, such decisions must surely turn in Leeds’ favour soon.
Survival grit on show
It was in their 30th league fixture of the 2022/23 campaign that Javi Gracia’s Leeds hosted Crystal Palace, a game in which they scored first, conceded just before half-time and then crumbled to a 5-1 thumping. On reflection, that felt like the sliding doors moment in which relegation felt inevitable.
After Calvert-Lewin’s penalty miss and Gudmundsson’s dismissal, Leeds could have crumbled again - but this is not the same squad. Instead, they stopped Palace from registering a single shot on target which according to Opta, is the first time a team has ever done that after going down to 10 men before half-time.
Leaders like Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, James Justin and many others stood tall to earn a much-deserved point. Alongside that important point, Sunday showed that in the face of adversity and some inexplicably bad luck, they will stand up to be counted. And in a Premier League relegation scrap that can count for a lot.