Crystal Palace gave themselves a huge boost in their survival hopes as they came from behind to thrash Leeds United 5-1 at Elland Road on Sunday.
It was their first win away from home since December, and what a way to get it as they have given themselves some breathing space from the relegation zone. The Eagles have moved up into 12th on 33 points, six points clear of the bottom three. As for Leeds, they will be nervously looking over their shoulder as they sit just two points above the drop.
It was a remarkable second-half display from the south London club after a woeful start to the match, and the player central to the victory was Michael Olise. The young winger provided three assists for his side in their demolition of Leeds and he is showing once again why he is one of the brightest young talents in the game. The way he plates when he is on song is nothing short of magical, and his performance was a joy to watch as Elland Road was left silenced.
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Despite the scoreline, it was who Leeds started the game sharply. They showed their intensity and hunger while Palace players looked rather lethargic. Luis Sinisterra had a few chances in the opening stages but was denied by Sam Johnstone, who bailed the Eagles out of trouble on many occasions in the first half. There was an impressive rhythm to Leeds’ play, with some nice combinations on the right side of the pitch between Jack Harrison, Breden Aaronson and Luke Ayling as they caused Marc Guehi and Tyrick Mitchell numerous problems.
The hosts' positive start to the match was rewarded at the midway point of the first half as Patrick Bamford found the far corner as he was left unmarked from a corner as Elland Road erupted. Palace’s poor organisation for the corner summed up their application to the match at that point as it was one-way traffic
Before they hired Roy Hodgson, they'd scored just five goals in 2023. Now they've got six in two games!
@cpfc_xtra | #LEECRY
Harrison was exciting tha fans, days after signing a contract extension with the Yorkshire club, and he went close with a curling effort which was brilliantly tipped away by Johnstone. The Eagles were able to claw their way back into the match, however, just before half-time. A deep free-kick was flicked on by Jeffrey Schlupp and Guehi was able to guide it into the back of the net.
As soon as the players emerged for the second half, the script completely changed. Palace were the team in control, applying the same intensity which saw them defeat Leicester City and it was now causing Leeds problems.
Exciting winger Olise was pulling the strings alongside Eberechi Eze and the former teed up Jordan Ayew to head home to put the Eagles ahead minutes after the restart. Leeds were shell shocked as they couldn’t get a foothold of the match and were left to rue their squandered chances when they dominated the opening 45. Olise and Eze's play at times was mesmerising and both are players that are more than capable of playing at a higher level.
Palace extended their lead to two just moments after grabbing the lead. Eze and Olise combined excellently with the former prodding past Ilan Meslier as huge groans echoed around Elland Road while the travelling fans were bouncing. The game was wrapped around 15 minutes later after another slick counter-attack was finished off by Odsonne Edouard, who found the bottom corner superbly from the left side of the box
Palace rubbed more salt into the wound late on as Ayew netted his second as the ball found its way to him in front of goal and he was able to turn and fire into the top corner to punish even more embarrassing defending from the home team.
Roy Hodgson’s men are looking more assured in their quest for survival after recording two consecutive victories against fellow strugglers, and with the way they attacked in that second half showed a side capable of pushing for the top half of the table. As for Leeds, their woeful defending has been costly again and you cannot hope to retain your Premier League status when your defenders struggle with the basics.
