Coming into the contest on the back of three successive defeats across all competitions, Patrick Vieira admitted that his Palace side needed to revert “back to basics” in order to finish the season positively. Therefore, it came as no surprise to see the ‘Eagles’ come flying out of the blocks in the opening 15 minutes, with Jean-Philippe Mateta twice going close to breaking the deadlock.
The visitors - boosted by Kalvin Phillips making his first PL league start since December - looked to gain a foothold in the match, and registered their first effort on target when Liam Cooper headed a corner straight into the grateful arms of Vicente Guaita. However, with HT approaching, both sides demonstrated a distinct lack of quality in the final third, as Mateta saw another effort comfortably saved by Illan Meslier in the Leeds goal.
Much like the first period, the opening exchanges of the second half were dominated by Palace, although their finishing touch continued to frustrate the Selhurst faithful. First, Wilfed Zaha fired an effort wastefully over the bar from the edge of the box, before the Ivorian again made space for himself, only to curl a tame shot into the midriff of Meslier.
With 15 minutes remaining, and the match firmly in the balance, the ‘Eagles’ continued to search for a late winner as the Leeds rearguard began to drop deeper under pressure. However, a superb double save from Meslier denied Zaha, while Conor Gallagher saw a first-time strike fly agonisingly over the bar.
Having survived a late onslaught, the Leeds side celebrated a hard-earned point at FT, as they moved five points above 18th-placed Everton having played a game more. Meanwhile, Palace remain in 14th position, four points adrift of the PL top-10.
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