Shortly before kick-off a tepid sun finally pierced through the banks of grey cloud which had enveloped West Yorkshire. It never became quite warm enough for Roy Hodgson to remove his padded, winter issue, club anorak but well before the end Crystal Palace’s interim manager bore the contented look of a man refreshed by a week on a tropical beach.
As the visiting fans chorused “We want six” and the excellent Eberechi Eze repeatedly danced around an increasingly shell shocked-looking Leeds defence, Hodgson’s justifiable pride will surely have been tempered by an acceptance that the Eagles had been a little lucky.
Until Marc Guéhi equalised on the brink of half time, Leeds had, after all, missed a succession of chances with Palace’s reserve goalkeeper Sam Johnstone almost single-handedly keeping his side in the game for an extended periods.
Everything became transformed beyond recognition after the break with a Leeds surrender not merely alarming their manager Javi Gracia but leaving them 16th, only two points above the bottom three. In contrast Hodgson’s suddenly upwardly mobile Palace rose to 12th, six points clear of the relegation zone and apparently renascent.
Gracia’s penchant for, depending on the opponent, mixing and matching tactics dictates that Leeds have become a bit of a chameleon team, but they began here in an aggressively front-foot style reminiscent of their approach under Marcelo Bielsa and Jesse Marsch.
The game had barely begun before a quartet of home chances had been and gone, with Johnstone, making his Premier League debut for Palace while deputising for the injured Vicente Guaita, saving smartly from Brenden Aaronson and Luis Sinisterra. Given that Patrick Bamford chipped a shot off target and Sinisterra headed another opening wide, Leeds were not so much on top as utterly omnipotent.
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Bamford turned such dominance into material advantage in the 21st minute, after expertly losing his marker Tyrick Mitchell, connecting with Aaronson’s out-swinging corner and defying Johnstone courtesy of a glancing header which grazed the inside of a post en route beyond the goalkeeper.
The subsequent flurry of embraces between Bamford and Gracia’s coaching staff reflected not merely the centre forward’s popularity but apparent delight at a much rehearsed training ground routine evidently paying dividends.
Eight years ago Bamford was on loan at Palace from Chelsea but remained seemingly super-glued to the bench after his relationship with the then Selhurst Park manager, Alan Pardew, deteriorated to the point where the pair were no longer on speaking terms.
Illan Meslier and his defence seemed in danger of a similar fall out after Gracia’s rearguard misread Michael Olise’s excellent in-swinging corner and the unmarked Jeffrey Schlupp concluded Palace’s first real attack by heading against a post. Hodgson’s side would continue to menace from a series of set-pieces which appeared to represent their most likely route to goal.
Within a minute of Schlupp’s near-miss Weston McKennie was forced to clear off the line from Jordan Ayew – deputising for the injured Wilfried Zaha – but Jack Harrison’s viciously whipped in free-kick soon had Johnstone earning his appearance money again.
Another free-kick, from the impressive Aaronson, this time prefaced Johnstone once again demonstrating why he is too good to be a permanent understudy by repelling Pascal Struijk’s goal-bound header.
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Johnstone had kept Palace in the game, buying his teammates time before eventually equalising. Almost inevitably, the goal, scored with half time fast approaching, arrived from a dead ball and featured Eze’s free-kick being nudged on by Schlupp and falling kindly for Guéhi to volley past Meslier.
Guéhi had spent most of the afternoon struggling to second guess Bamford’s movement but, having seen his goal survive a VAR review for a potential offside, suddenly he was celebrating with abandon. Gracia’s players, meanwhile, were left to count the cost of conceding what was becoming a litany of cheap set-plays.
Guéhi’s volley clearly imbued Palace with confidence as, very early in the second period, they assumed control of the game and swiftly took the lead when Olise dodged Struijk before crossing superbly and invitingly. All that remained was for Ayew, who had outmanoeuvred Luke Ayling, to score with a header Meslier touched but could not hold.
Eze soon registered Palace’s third, smoothly exchanging passes with Olise before sliding the ball beyond the on-rushing Meslier. At this juncture it was extremely hard to comprehend how goal-scoring had become such a problem for Palace in recent months.
Gracia responded with a triple substitution, introducing Rodrigo, Wilfried Gnonto and Rasmus Kristensen as he switched to a 4-2-4 formation spearheaded by Bamford and Rodrigo.
Hodgson’s side were passing and moving with elegance and artistry but, worryingly for Leeds fans, their side seemed to have abandoned the idea of pressing and, damningly, no one tracked Eze in the preamble to his goal.
It got worse for Gracia. A by now rampant Eze initiated a counter-attack by running at the home defence with the ease of a long haul aircraft cutting through cloud. When Odsonne Édouard met Eze’s ensuing pass Palace’s fourth goal beckoned. A steadying touch and a left-foot shot on Édouard’s part later, the contest was well and truly over and an exodus of Leeds fans began.
Those departing missed Ayew scoring the fifth after being played onside by Kristensen before Leeds were booed off by those fans still inside Elland Road.
