Mail 25/4/11
Crystal Palace 1 Leeds 0: Danns' early strike edges Eagles closer to Championship safety
By Sami Mokbel
Simon Grayson came close to calling time on Leeds’ promotion tilt after his side suffered a devastating defeat against Crystal Palace.
Neil Danns’ second-minute goal was enough to secure all three points, and virtually guaranteed Palace’s Championship status.
Palace looked destined for the drop when Freedman replaced sacked George Burley in January. Now only a nine-goal swing from Sheffield United or an 18-goal turnaround from Scunthorpe could condemn Palace to relegation.
However, Freedman’s route to survival was the last thing on Grayson’s mind last night as he came to terms with a defeat that looks to have ended his side’s battle to earn a play-off spot.
Leeds are three points adrift of sixth-placed Nottingham Forest with only games against Burnley and QPR to follow.
‘We know it’s out of our hands now,’ admitted Grayson. ‘We are relying on other results going our way. There is pressure playing for this football club but it is a proper pressure.
‘The players should thrive on it and they have done for large parts of it. But somewhere down the line we were going to hit a bad run and unfortunately it has happened at the wrong end of the season.
‘I am not sure the pressure has got to the players — it is just things have gone against us. When you look back, we have been a little bit naive at times this year — but it has been a fantastic experience for the players.’
He added: ‘We just didn’t create as much as we would have liked in front of goal today. But that’s football.’
The vital moment came inside the opening 80 seconds, when Danns’ drive from the edge of the box deflected off Andy O’Brien and past Kasper Schmeichel to give Palace a dream start.
Jermaine Easter and Danns both missed headed chances to double Palace’s lead before the break, an advantage they would have deserved given their dominant first-half display.
Leeds laid siege to Palace’s penalty area in the second period as they looked to salvage something from a red-hot Selhurst Park. But despite their pressure, Davide Somma’s tame effort with just Julian Speroni to beat was the best chance they could conjure up before Danns was shown a red card for a second bookable offence deep into injury time.
And the impact of the result was there for all to see at the final whistle.
Palace players, staff and fans celebrated in the knowledge that survival — barring a miracle — was complete, Leeds looked dejected at knowing the defeat all but ended their play-off dream.
Managerial rookie Freedman was left to reflect on completing the job co-owners Steve Parish and Martin Long asked him to do four months ago — to keep Palace in the Championship.
‘Management is certainly not easy,’ said the Scot. ‘If you said that to my wife, she would give you a right good answer to that. I just felt that the lads in the dressing room were good enough to stay up and I told them that.
‘There was no magic wand. We defended very well, we defended for our lives. And a performance like that can change peoples’ lives in terms of what division they are playing in next season.’
He added: ‘Because we didn’t know what division we would be playing in next season I’ve not been able to speak to players about next season. But this result will help us keep hold of some of those players.'
Crystal Palace 1 Leeds 0: Danns' early strike edges Eagles closer to Championship safety
By Sami Mokbel
Simon Grayson came close to calling time on Leeds’ promotion tilt after his side suffered a devastating defeat against Crystal Palace.
Neil Danns’ second-minute goal was enough to secure all three points, and virtually guaranteed Palace’s Championship status.
Palace looked destined for the drop when Freedman replaced sacked George Burley in January. Now only a nine-goal swing from Sheffield United or an 18-goal turnaround from Scunthorpe could condemn Palace to relegation.
However, Freedman’s route to survival was the last thing on Grayson’s mind last night as he came to terms with a defeat that looks to have ended his side’s battle to earn a play-off spot.
Leeds are three points adrift of sixth-placed Nottingham Forest with only games against Burnley and QPR to follow.
‘We know it’s out of our hands now,’ admitted Grayson. ‘We are relying on other results going our way. There is pressure playing for this football club but it is a proper pressure.
‘The players should thrive on it and they have done for large parts of it. But somewhere down the line we were going to hit a bad run and unfortunately it has happened at the wrong end of the season.
‘I am not sure the pressure has got to the players — it is just things have gone against us. When you look back, we have been a little bit naive at times this year — but it has been a fantastic experience for the players.’
He added: ‘We just didn’t create as much as we would have liked in front of goal today. But that’s football.’
The vital moment came inside the opening 80 seconds, when Danns’ drive from the edge of the box deflected off Andy O’Brien and past Kasper Schmeichel to give Palace a dream start.
Jermaine Easter and Danns both missed headed chances to double Palace’s lead before the break, an advantage they would have deserved given their dominant first-half display.
Leeds laid siege to Palace’s penalty area in the second period as they looked to salvage something from a red-hot Selhurst Park. But despite their pressure, Davide Somma’s tame effort with just Julian Speroni to beat was the best chance they could conjure up before Danns was shown a red card for a second bookable offence deep into injury time.
And the impact of the result was there for all to see at the final whistle.
Palace players, staff and fans celebrated in the knowledge that survival — barring a miracle — was complete, Leeds looked dejected at knowing the defeat all but ended their play-off dream.
Managerial rookie Freedman was left to reflect on completing the job co-owners Steve Parish and Martin Long asked him to do four months ago — to keep Palace in the Championship.
‘Management is certainly not easy,’ said the Scot. ‘If you said that to my wife, she would give you a right good answer to that. I just felt that the lads in the dressing room were good enough to stay up and I told them that.
‘There was no magic wand. We defended very well, we defended for our lives. And a performance like that can change peoples’ lives in terms of what division they are playing in next season.’
He added: ‘Because we didn’t know what division we would be playing in next season I’ve not been able to speak to players about next season. But this result will help us keep hold of some of those players.'