Leeds and Crystal Palace Play Out a Goalless Draw at Elland Road

Leeds United and Crystal Palace could not find a way through each other at Elland Road on Sunday, playing out a goalless draw that suited Palace's need for a clean sheet more than it suited a Leeds side chasing a third straight win.

The closest thing to a goal

Chances were there without ever quite arriving. Tarik Muharemovic made an important early tackle to deny Strand Larsen inside the first ten minutes, and Ao Tanaka fired over from close range on 22 minutes for the game's best sight of goal in the opening half. The game's biggest moment came just after the hour: Tyrick Mitchell turned home from close range on 53 minutes, only for VAR to rule it out after finding Khalaili offside in the build-up. Dominic Calvert-Lewin came closest for Leeds soon after, only for Walter Benítez to make an excellent save to keep his side level, and Palace also had a penalty appeal for a challenge on Kamada waved away on 71 minutes.

"We wanted to win this home game. Our execution in the final third wasn't sharp, but we had to dig in and fight. It was important to keep a clean sheet and extend our unbeaten run."

— Daniel Farke, Leeds United head coach

"We deserve better. We created chances, and without that VAR offside, the outcome might have been different. Our players gave everything today."

— Pierre Sage, Crystal Palace head coach

Palace's first clean sheet of the season

For Palace, the point comes with a specific significance: it is their first clean sheet of the campaign, after conceding 11 goals across their opening four league matches against Everton, Manchester City, Fulham and Ipswich Town. Leeds, meanwhile, stay unbeaten but were unable to repeat the attacking edge of their 4-1 win over Newcastle United the previous week.

What the result changes

Leeds went into the round third on 8 points from four games, unbeaten with two wins and two draws; the point takes them to 9 points from five without a defeat this season. Crystal Palace had won only one of their first four league matches and sat 16th on 3 points; Sunday's draw takes them to 4 points from five games, still in the bottom half but with a result to build a defensive foundation on.

Match stats

Line-ups

Daniel Farke's Leeds United XI:

• J. Trafford (GK)
• J. Bogle, T. Muharemovic, N. Elvedi, G. Gudmundsson
• A. Stach, E. Ampadu (c)
• A. Tanaka, J. Justin
• D. Calvert-Lewin, N. Okafor

Pierre Sage's Crystal Palace XI:

• W. Benítez (GK)
• T. Mitchell, Q. Timber, J. Canvot, T. Tomiyasu
• C. Richards, A. Wharton (c), D. Kamada
• A. Khalaili, Y. Pino, J. Larsen