Leeds United 4 Crystal Palace 1: Dominic Calvert-Lewin at the double as Whites continue resurgence — Yorkshire Post 20/12/25
By Tom Coates
Leeds United continued their Premier League resurgence with
a surprise dismantling of Crystal Palace.
Daniel Farke’s men have found form and while a win was not a
total surprise, the complete control they enjoyed against top-half opposition
was.
Palace looked shellshocked as they caved under the weight of
Leeds pressure, squandering a chance to head into their Carabao Cup
quarter-final against Arsenal with some momentum.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin continued his rich vein of form with a
first-half brace, scoring goals that both stemmed from an Ethan Ampadu
long-throw. Leeds’ captain weighed in himself to add a third, steering past
Dean Henderson to make sure of victory.
Justin Devenny converted a stoppage-time penalty to deny
Leeds a clean sheet, although the three-goal advantage was restored when an
Anton Stach free-kick made it 4-1.
First half
The inclusion of Brenden Aaronson ahead of Ao Tanaka raised
some eyebrows ahead of kick-off, as fans pondered whether there would be a
deviation from the 3-5-2 formation that had proven so fruitful.
Aaronson sat alongside Stach ahead of the deep-lying Ampadu,
with Leeds seemingly intent on having numbers against the so-often slick duo of
Adam Wharton and Will Hughes.
Leeds were the first out of their shells, enjoying the
maiden venture forward of the evening. The ball was worked to Aaronson out on
the right, who could only manage a cross into the side-netting from a tight
angle.
Noah Okafor was the next to try test the Eagles with a
delivery, but Palace cleared their lines with relative ease.
It took 17 minutes for the first chance of the affair to
materialise and it fell to Joe Rodon. Palace could only clear as far as the
centre-back, who drilled a shot that was deflected wide of the post. He then
met the resulting corner but struggled go make a clean connection and glanced
away from danger.
Seemingly buoyed by the scare, Palace briefly upped the ante
and enjoyed their first opportunity. Eddie Nketiah sent a low effort towards
goal that Lucas Perri managed to beat away.
The Brazilian was called upon again barely a minute later,
although did not have to work as hard to collect a tame Jean-Philippe Mateta
header.
In a 3-5-2 system, it is hardly uncommon for a centre-back
to step wide and forward to push the wing-back on. However, Rodon was
noticeably higher than usual as Leeds looked to enable Bogle to make runs in
behind.
The sight of the centre-back galloping down the right flank
provided some entertainment when the game had not yet sprang into life. He hung
a cross up at the back post, but Nathaniel Clyne hooked behind with Okafor
lurking.
The latter then got pulses racing by leaving Chris Richards
for dust, only to overcook a through ball intended for Aaronson.
Controversy soon made its way into the affair when Aaronson
went to ground in the box after a challenge from Tyrick Mitchell. VAR took a
look at the incident before deeming there had been no foul, incensing the home
fans.
However, the Elland Road faithful were not up in arms for
long. Richards headed an Ampadu long-throw behind him and Calvert-Lewin
pounced, initially drawing a Dean Henderson save before prodding home on the
rebound.
The goal was his fifth in as many games and only increased
the volume at which Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ was reworked in tribute to him.
On the stroke of half-time, the head of Richards came close
to being Palace’s undoing for a second time. A rasping effort from Struijk hit
the head of the Eagles defender before rattling the woodwork
Leeds had grown in confidence as the half progress and the
frustration felt by the visitors started to bleed through, as Maxence Lacroix
and Marc Guehi both picked up bookings.
With Palace firmly on the ropes, Leeds struck again before
the half-time whistle. History repeated as Ampadu caused chaos with a long
throw, this time seeing Jaka Bijol flick on for the in-form Calvert-Lewin to
head home.
Second half
Leeds did not sit back after the break and were the first to
threaten in the second half. The ball fell kindly to Stach, who rifled into a
crowd of bodies and saw his deflected effort fizz wide.
The resulting corner found Gabriel Gudmundsson and Palace
were again scrambling to get bodies in front of the ball.
Leeds refused to relent and Calvert-Lewin came agonisingly
close to getting on the end of a Gudmundsson cross after Aaronson fed the
Swede.
Palace soon caved again, with Ampadu getting in on the act
after having a hand - or hands - in the first two. An Anton Stach corner was
only cleared as far as Aaronson, whose shot was flicked by Bijol into the path
of Leeds’ captain.
A defensive player by trade, the Wales international
produced a forward’s finish to extend the home lead.
The third goal did not puncture Leeds’ attacking intent as
Palace struggled to stem the flow of the hosts. Rodon saw a shot blocked by
Mitchell before Henderson managed to ensure a goalmouth scramble did not yield
a fourth.
Leeds just kept coming as the second-half progressed,
pushing the Eagles back with complete control. Gudmundsson angled a cross over
to Bogle, who was closely guarded and could not trouble Henderson.
Yeremy Pino mustered a promising curling effort in the dying
embers, although it barely provoked a reaction from Palace fans who were simply
waiting for the merciful final whistle.
They were given something to celebrate in the dying embers,
when Lucas Perri felled Christantus Uche in stoppage time. Justin Devenny
converted from the penalty spot yet it was too little, too late.
Stoppage time served up more late drama when Ilia Gruev was
taken to ground by a Borna Sosa challenge. VAR reviewed the footage and the
transgression was deemed to have taken place outside the box, meaning Leeds
could not restore the three-goal advantage from 12 yards.
The hosts did, however, managed to restore it from outside
the box when Stach beautifully curled home the free-kick.
