Crystal Palace Stalemate Keeps Leeds United In Relegation Danger
By AFP: Leeds held on for a 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace
that did little to ease their fears of being dragged deeper into the Premier League relegation
battle on Monday. Jesse Marsch's side survived a second half barrage from a
Palace team inspired by Wilfried Zaha after he was accused of diving by the
visitors. Leeds are five points clear of the relegation zone, but third bottom
Everton have a game in hand to close the gap to two points.
With Leeds' next three games coming against Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, there could yet be a nerve-jangling conclusion to the season for the Yorkshire club.
Leeds
have taken 11 points from seven games since hiring American boss Marsch to
replace the sacked Marcelo Bielsa.
But
despite that solid run, Burnley's second successive win, against Wolves on
Sunday, has lifted them out of the relegation zone above Everton, in the
process dragging Leeds into the scrap for survival.
"It wasn't our best night, but it's a recipe of not losing and finding a way to pick up points. We will take the positives," Marsch said.
"We need to find ways of being a bit more dangerous, but a clean sheet and a draw is a big positive.
"The (relegation) pressure was always going to be big no matter what."
Marsch
and Palace boss Patrick Vieira met nine times in the United States during their
spells in charge of New York Red Bulls and New York City FC respectively.
None
of those previous encounters can have been quite so crucial to Marsch as this
one as Leeds tried to climb away from the relegation dogfight.
England
midfielder Kalvin Phillips was making his first Leeds start for nearly five
months after a hamstring injury, but at times the frenetic tempo left him
struggling to keep up.
Jean-Philippe
Mateta almost gave Palace the perfect start when he raced onto Conor
Gallagher's long pass and clipped his shot past Leeds keeper Illan Meslier, but
the burly striker's effort drifted just wide.
Palace
dominated the early stages and Mateta missed another good chance as he
stretched to shin Jordan Ayew's cross wide from close-range.
After
a rocky start, Leeds defender Liam Cooper's header forced
Vicente Guaita to make his first save.
Mateta
tested Meslier with a powerful header before Palace forward Zaha earned
Marsch's wrath.
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Zaha's
theatrical tumbles raised the temperature on the touchline as Marsch took issue
with the Ivorian, who then shoved Raphinha in the face to make the atmosphere
even more feisty.
The
bad blood spilled over into the second half as Daniel James was booked for a
crude foul on Joel Ward that sparked another melee.
Zaha
appealed for a penalty after Luke Ayling's challenge sent him sprawling,
but his protest was waved away.
Undeterred,
Zaha took the attack to Leeds again as he cut inside the area for a shot that
Meslier held well.
Gallagher
smashed a half-volley just over from the edge of the area before Meslier twice
saved with his legs from a pair of Zaha strikes.