Glenn Murray's late equaliser for Crystal Palace pegs back Leeds
Jonny Weeks at Selhurst Park
The animated scenes that surrounded Ian Holloway at the conclusion of this contest showed neither side were wholly content with a draw. The Crystal Palace manager was vexed that his former player Luke Varney had not been dismissed for what he felt were two bookable offences – a foul and a dive – moments before the striker created Leeds' first goal, and sought a word with Varney at the entrance to the tunnel after the final whistle.
Lee Peltier, the Leeds captain, was outraged and flailed his arms like an irritated Baloo as he sought to give Holloway a slice of his disgust. The visitors' backroom staff swiftly intervened and tempers were calmed, even if the post-match rhetoric was still prickly.
"I thought the refereeing decisions had a huge bearing," said Holloway, barely able to appreciate the draw which his side rescued in the 84th minute. "I saw Luke Varney foul Jonny Williams from behind, a blatant yellow card but the ref didn't give him one. Two minutes later he dives, the referee gives him a yellow card, so the bloke should have been off. Then two minutes later, blow me down, Wilf [Zaha] has gone clear through, plays it into the 18-yard box and is completely scythed down and he's given him a yellow. If that's not a goal-scoring opportunity I don't know what the rules are. The referee was so lenient it was quite frightening. To me we should've been 1-0 up playing against nine men."
Palace had not been beaten at home since the opening league match of the season – 17 matches in total –but only a poached finish from Glenn Murray at the far post maintained that run and aided their promotion push. Murray scored either side of a brace from the Leeds striker Steve Morison, who was brought to the club from Norwich to replace Luciano Becchio.
Neil Warnock was less aggrieved than his counterpart. "We've conceded late goals in previous matches, we've dropped about seven or nine points which is frustrating for a manager,'' he said. ''But they're a good team and they're used to winning here, and you know how well you've played when you see Olly going off like that."
Palace and Leeds were joined before the match in a minute's applause for Dick Graham, the Eagles' long-standing goalkeeper and former manager, who died on Thursday aged 90. Leeds fans will remember Graham as the man who masterminded a 3-2 FA Cup victory by Fourth Division Colchester over Don Revie's high-flying side in 1971.
Leeds were first undone that day by a towering header from Ray Crawford; it happened again on Saturday as Murray, unmarked, leapt at the back stick to nod home a long ball from Jonathan Williams. It vindicated Holloway's decision to field the division's top marksman; Murray had missed a penalty in Palace's previous fixture, while Kevin Phillips converted a spot-kick on his way to a hat-trick, leading Holloway to suppose that Murray was mentally fatigued.
Leeds grew accustomed to their role as counterattackers and moments after Varney was booked for diving in the 55th minute, he crossed to his strike partner Morison, who snatched an equaliser. The latter controlled the cross crisply and steered his shot into the far corner.
Palace's Stephen Dobbie flashed successive shots inches wide of the post as it appeared the home side would retake the lead. When Paddy Kenny launched the ball upfield it fell kindly to Morison, who again found the target for Leeds in a sequence of ruthless efficiency, aka route one, in the 69th minute. Yet Murray's late effort – his 29th league goal of the season – ensured Palace are still within sight of automatic promotion.