Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu speaks out on 'difficult' red card and Dominic Calvert-Lewin penalty miss
Leeds United endured a disastrous end to the first-half at Selhurst Park on Sunday but rallied to take a point.
Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu admits it was ‘difficult’ going down to 10 men at Crystal Palace but his side left Selhurst Park with a good point.
The Whites carved out a 0-0 draw at Palace despite being down to 10 men for the entire second half, with Gabriel Gudmundsson sent off in controversial circumstances. The Swede was shown a second yellow in first-half added-time for a soft foul on Ismaila Sarr, having earlier been booked for bringing down Brennan Johnson.
Referee Thomas Bramall quickly brandished a yellow card but had seemingly forgotten about the earlier booking, realising after the fact he then had to send Gudmundsson off. It took almost a minute between either card being shown amid Palace protests and advice from fourth official Paul Tierney.
Daniel Farke made two defensive changes at half-time, introducing Ilia Gruev and Jayden Bogle as Leeds absorbed pressure and looked to frustrate their hosts. And they succeeded, with Palace failing to register a single shot on target and rarely threatening to even test Karl Darlow.
"A good point,” Ampadu told Sky Sports after full-time. “Away from home it's never easy and the conditions made it difficult for both teams.
“Going down to 10 men was difficult, but one thing you can say about anyone in a Leeds shirt is that they fight until the end and stick together. A good point in the end."
Ampadu on Calvert-Lewin missed penalty
Gudmundsson’s dismissal capped off a disastrous period of first-half added-time for Leeds, who should have been going into the break a goal up rather than a man down. The Whites were awarded a penalty when Palace midfielder Will Hughes handled in the box following a corner.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin stepped up to take the penalty but after sending Walter Benitez the wrong way, dragged it wide. Captain Ampadu was the first to meet his teammate once the effort was missed and seemingly urged him to move on quickly.
Calvert-Lewin rallied to produce an impressive striker’s performance for a team defending for their lives. He shuttled between Palace defender’s endlessly and pulled Leeds up the pitch at times with his hold-up play and ability to win free-kicks.
"We can take some frustrations but we always back Dom,” Ampadu added. “He has won points for us this season and I'm sure he will in the remaining games. There were times where we could have been more clinical and nicked three points in a difficult game."