Right, that’s it from me. Thanks for your company!
Here’s Ed Aarons’ report from Selhurst Park:
And here’s Jesse Marsch doing the same: “We as a group were a little disappointed with our performance but we have to look at the positives. It was night when we bend but we don’t break.”
Great to hear Marsch being quizzed about tactics and formations post-match, and he mentions how his players are still getting used to his system. He comes across very well too.
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Here’s Kalvin Phillips talking to Sky Sports: “It was a tough game. We didn’t play as well as we could do, but this was always going to be a tough place to come.”
“I enjoyed it – it was nice to be back.”
Always comes across well does Kalvin.
Here’s how things look at the bottom of the table now:
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Leeds | 33 | -30 | 34 |
| 17 | Burnley | 33 | -16 | 31 |
| 18 | Everton | 32 | -21 | 29 |
| 19 | Watford | 33 | -36 | 22 |
| 20 | Norwich | 33 | -47 | 21 |
Our man at Selhurst reports:
Frustrating night for Palace not helped by a weak referee. But not quite on it in attack today
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) April 25, 2022
The Leeds players look a little disappointed as they head off but Marsch does the rounds, telling his players “good job”.
Full-time: Crystal Palace 0-0 Leeds
Peep! PEEP!! PEEEEEEEP!!! All over. A peculiar game – strangely compelling in a thud-and-blunder sort of way. Leeds will be pretty relieved that Palace could not make their dominance count.
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90+2 min: … Gallager tumbles, Zaha sees his shot saved, Leeds survive. Just.
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90+1 min: Zaha cuts inside and fizzes a shot just over the bar via a deflection. Palace corner …
90 min: Just three minutes of added time to play.
88 min: Llorente does well to stop a galloping Gallagher as he storms into the box. Leeds are hanging on a bit here.
87 min: Gallagher hits his shot straight at Meslier from the edge of the box.
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85 min: It’s all fallen a bit flat again which probably suits Leeds – a point really isn’t a bad result for them here.
83 min: Benteke replaces Mateta for Palace.
81 min: Meslier saves! And again! Zaha hammers two low efforts at the near post and the Leeds keeper twice saves with his feet.
79 min: Palace sub: Eze is replaced by Schlupp.
78 min: … Eze slings it in, the ball drops out to Gallagher, who volleys just over from the edge of the box.
77 min: Llorente goes into the book for pulling back Zaha. Dangerous free-kick to Palace …
76 min: … worked short and out to Ward, who curls his effort from distance well wide.
75 min: Koch, who has had a poor game since coming on at the break, loses out to Gallagher on halfway and the Palace midfielder wins his side a corner …
73 min: Gallagher is a touch lucky to win a free-kick as Philips closes him down on halfway. Leeds, meanwhile, make their third change: Rodrigo off, Gelhardt on.
71 min: With Eze, Gallagher, Zaha and now Olise on the pitch Palace are playing some lovely approach stuff. It’s just that final ball that is lacking.
69 min: Gallagher goes down in the box under a challenge from Llorente, who goes to ground early. The referee points … for a corner. And VAR agrees.
68 min: Zaha cracks a shot at goal from the angle after Olise makes an immediate impact. Palace back in the ascendancy.
67 min: Palace make a change: Olise on for Ayew.
66 min: Better end product from Zaha this time as he skips away from Ayling – his low cross finds Mateta but the striker spanks his effort high and wide.
64 min: Zaha scampers down the left the cuts inside … but poor control lets him down.
61 min: Harrison’s strike from distance pings away off Greenwood. Leeds have been the better side for the past five minutes or so.
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60 min: Gallagher goes down a touch theatrically as Ayling dives in. Replays show the defender did well to tidy up his loose control.
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59 min: Leeds make their second substitution: Sam Greenwood replaces Dan James.
58 min: Palace’s turn to concede the ball cheaply in their own half. Dallas drags his distance from effort wide.
57 min: Zaha can’t quite find Gallagher with his pass across the box after Cooper gives away the ball cheaply. Leeds seem intent on giving Palace a helping hand but the home side are struggling to take advantage at the mo.
55 min: Koch concedes possession on halfway but Palace, courtesy of some slightly leaden-footed work from Mateta and Eze, can’t take advantage.
54 min: Eze scuffs the resultant corner to the near post and as Leeds make a hash of clearing the thing, Zaha shimmies himself some space then wangs his shot somewhere in the direction of South Norwood station.
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53 min: Superb tackle from Ayling as Eze slips Zaha through on goal.
50 min: Ward also goes into the book for squaring up to the Leeds man. The replays suggest James is a bit lucky I reckon – that really wasn’t a clever challenge at all.
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49 min: Ah, scratch that. Dan James just absolutely hammered into Joel Ward and that gets everyone’s dander back up. James goes into the book.
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48 min: Everyone seems to have calmed down after that pre-interval tension, which is good/bad.
47 min: … it comes to nothing.
46 min: Raphinha has half a chance out of nowhere but Ward sticks to his task well. Corner to Leeds though …
Peep! Off we go again. Leeds have made a half-time substitution: Robin Koch replaces Klich.
Half-time: Crystal Palace 0-0 Leeds
Peep! PEEEEP!! And with the narkiness increasing the referee brings a halt to proceedings. Tons of intensity, a nice high tempo … but not that much in the way of goalmouth action.
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45 min: Andersen quite rightly goes into the book for a thunking challenge on Rodrigo.
44 min: Raphinha is penalised as he can-cans his leg up to neck height as Ward heads clear. That sparks more grumbling from those in red and blue. Half-time looming is a bit of a shame as it’s all getting a little spicy.
42 min: Patrick Vieira is particularly unimpressed.
41 min: Zaha straight-arms Raphinha to hold on to the ball – the scream from the Leeds man is audible – and Palace fume as the officials award the visitors a free-kick.
39 min: Dallas does superbly down the Leeds left … until his cross floats behind for a goal-kick.
37 min: Zaha again tumbles down under a heavy Ayling challenge – the Leeds man should probably be in the book by now – but play goes on. Mateta can’t quite get on the end of the eventual cross.
36 min: Leeds’ turn to get on the front foot. Dallas and Harrison win their team a corner on the left … but Ward does well to deny Rodrigo space and the chance disappears.
34 min: … Mateta gets his head on the end of this one but it’s straight at Meslier.
32 min: … Eze’s whipped cross from the set piece is headed away but Gallagher gets the ball back into the danger zone and sparks a scramble which end with Eze’s shot being blocked. But Zaha goes down again on the left and has his team another free-kick.
31 min: Zaha is upended on the Palace left and wins a free-kick …
30 min: This, at times, has threatened to spark into a belting contest but hasn’t really caught fire in all honesty.
28 min: Raphina’s long (ish) through is backheeled to the edge of the area by Cooper, but Ayew is out quickly to block Dallas’s effort.
26 min: … Cooper gets on the end of it but he can only head the ball straight at Guaita. Probably Leeds’ best chance of the game so far.
25 min: Harrison does well down the Leeds left and clips his cross at McArthur. Corner …
24 min: Leeds horrendously lose the ball inside their own half and Zaha has the opportunity to slip Mateta through – but his pass is too heavy and Meslier collects.
22 min: And the ball is immediately whacked forward for James to chase. He finds Harrison, whose shot is blocked at source.
21 min: Zaha gets free down the left for perhaps the first time in the game but a bevy of Leeds defenders get back to smother the danger.
19 min: … Eze whips the set-piece in but Llorente is there to nod clear.
18 min: Cooper catches Gallagher as the Palace midfielder charges in after a bouncing ball. Free-kick to the home side in a dangerous area …
17 min: Rodrigo looks to find the onrushing Ayling but his pass into the area is much too heavy.
15 min: What a chance! Ayew is released down the right channel (clearly a plan from Palace this) by Gallagher. His low cross finds Mateta at the back post, who shins wide with the goal gaping. It looks like Llorente, sliding in front of the striker, got a slight touch but that’s still big miss from Mateta.
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13 min: Andersen ends the next Leeds attack and the sides play a bit of hot-potato with the ball.
10 min: Palace make a meal out of clearing their lines before Gallagher tidies up and gets them on the front foot. Clyne gets free on the overlap and looks to find Zaha who just for a second seems to have got ahead of his marker. His header loops gently to Meslier though.
8 min: It’s fairly frantic, scrappy stuff so far, with neither side hesitating to get the ball forward. There’s something a bit retro about it, in a good way.
6 min: Zaha and Ward combine neatly down the Palace left, with the latter hoiking a cross towards Mateta. Meslier is more decisive this time, though, and claims confidently.
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4 min: Meslier hesitates as Clyne punts a ball over the top into that right channel again and Mateta is in. He attempts to dink the ball over the keeper but can’t get enough mustard on the effort and Llorente is able to get back to clear.
3 min: James looks to scamper into the Palace box but he’s quickly crowded out. Neither side look particularly interested in playing keep-ball this evening.
1 min: A high-energy start as Palace look to slip Ayew down the right channel. The atmosphere at Selhurst is excallent as ever.
PEEP! Off we go then!
Click-clack, click-clack … the players are in the tunnel in that corner of Selhurst.
A pre-match email from Harriet Osborn: “Leeds supporters might take heart from the recent record of Vieira v Marsch meetings- they coached either side of a nasty derby in MLS and Marsch’s RBNY side were clearly on top through the majority of those meetings. Might we get another 7-0 shellacking of Vieira’s boys today?”
A bit of pre-match listening: here’s today’s Football Weekly pod.
The lineups
Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1): Guaita; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Clyne; McArthur, Gallagher; Eze, Ayew, Zaha; Mateta.
Subs: Butland, Tomkins, Olise, Kouyate, Hughes, Schlupp, Benteke, Edouard, Kelly.
Leeds (4-2-3-1): Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Cooper, Dallas; Klich, Phillips; Raphinha, Rodrigo, Harrison; James.
Subs: Firpo, Koch, Klaesson, Struijk, Bate, Gelhardt, Cresswell, Greenwood, Kenneh.
Referee: Darren England (South Yorkshire)
Preamble
Hello all and welcome to what could be a nervy night at Selhurst. Leeds, despite three wins in their last four, arrive in south London feeling a little twitchier than they might have done a couple of weeks ago. Burnley’s mini-renaissance means Jesse Marsch’s side are just four points clear of 18th-placed Everton but with a hideous goal difference and with Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea looming after this fixture. They should be fine but things would look a lot rosier with a win at Selhurst Park this evening.
It would take something very strange, meanwhile, to see Palace dragged back into trouble though after back-to-back defeats in the league they’re still a win or so away from absolute safety.
The last time Leeds visited this part of the capital they dominated the ball but were spanked 4-1 and indeed you have to go back to March 2006 for their last win at Selhurst, when Kevin Blackwell’s Leeds beat Iain Dowie’s Eagles 2-1. Marsch could go a long way to soothing the post-Bielsa hangover by ending that 16-year wait.
Kick-off is 8pm BST.
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