Crystal Palace 0 Leeds United 0: Fury, relief but above all pride as Whites keep pace with relegation rivals despite penalty miss and red card — Yorkshire Post 15/3/26

By Stuart Rayner

Leeds United often enjoy it when their backs are up against the wall, and they successfully held out for half a game with 10-men to claim a 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace that should have been more.

Furious with referee Thomas Bramall for sending off Gabriel Gudmundsson, the Whites did a good job of shutting down the second half of an already poor game to escape from Selhurst Park with a clean sheet.

But it only added to the sense of what might have been after Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed the target with a penalty when the game was still 11 versus 11. Even with a man more, a poor Palace were there for the taking.

Fortunately, the achievement of not being beaten outshone it.

If the football summed up the low quality of the Premier League at the moment, the game also highlighted the standard of refereeing.

From finding themselves in a very pretty position 43 minutes into an ugly game, Leeds looked to have tossed it away in a matter of minutes. But they ended up keeping pace with West Ham United and Nottingham Forest, who also drew at the weekend.

"We're Leeds and we're proud of you," the visiting fans sang as the clock ran down in stoppage-time.

As half-time approached, Calvert-Lewin missed a penalty gifted to him by Will Hughes' daft handball, then Jaka Bijol – rightly – escaped a second yellow card, only for Gudmundsson to pick up one instead.

It briefly breathed life into a game which was a succession of long throw-ins breaking up scrappy periods of football at both ends.

Twice in the opening minutes Leeds' doziness almost got them pressed into trouble with Evann Guessand, but Karl Darlow just about got away with it. Pascal Struijk was harassed into giving up the ball and Palace won a free-kick Brennan Johnson clipped against the wall.

Brenden Aaronson was presented with a great chance when Ismaila Sarr misjudged a ball in, but dragged it wide.

Lukas Nmecha, starting alongside Calvert-Lewin for only the second time this season but as an inside-forward rather than a strike partner, thought he was due a 18th-minute penalty even though there was little reaction from his team-mates.

Video assistant referee James Bell presumably saw Chris Richards arm wrapped around the forward but it appeared Nmecha went down independently.

Maxence Lacroix headed a good chance over in the 27th minute but Calvert-Lewin came close to scoring in the 39th minute, with Premier League debutant goalkeeper Walter Benitez well behind his line but the goalline technology showing a small bit of ball in front.

Leeds got their penalty in the 43rd minute when Hughes reached out a hand to stop Jaka Bijol heading on a right-wing cross but with Benitez diving the wrong way, Calvert-Lewin put his penalty wide.

That was just the start.

Bijol, on a booking for handling the ball as he went down, was penalised for catching Sarr in a tackle but Sheffield referee Bramall decided against cautioning the centre-back a second time for what was a fairly slight contract, instead putting Daniel Farke's name in the book for complaints from his bench about Palace’s behaviour.

He might have shown the same discretion five minutes into stoppage time when Gudmundsson fouled Sarr, but had forgotten booking Gudmundsson for a foul on Johnson until it was pointed out.

Leeds made a double change, taking off both players behind Calvert-Lewin and building a wall of five and another of three.

It was not great for the spectacle but Leeds could not concern themselves with that.

Darlow made an excellent save after the ball ping-pinged between substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta and his marker, Rodon.

Struijk headed onto the roof of his own net under real pressure, and Anton Stach threw himself in the way of a goalbound shot, then Ethan Ampadu charged down another.

When Johnson escaped a second booking for a trip on James Justin, some in the Holmesdale End joined in with the away fans' chant of "You're not fit to referee."

Palace thought they had finally took the lead in the 79th minute when Jefferson Lema headed in the rebound from another excellent Darlow save. But the VAR spotted an offside when Palace played the ball back to the corner-taker.

Very occasionally Leeds broke out, Rodon doing extremely well to win in the ball in the corner after 64 minutes, but Richards getting int the way of Stach's ball across the byline.

When an Ampadu long throw fell to him in the 88th minute, Stach got hold of his shot but put it right above Benitez's head.

At full-time it was the Palace fans who were booing, Farke visibly relieved as he went to shake Oliver Glasner's hand.

Despite everything, it had been a good day for his team.