Patrick Bamford reached his century after the interval to seal Leeds’ third win in their last four Premier League games after Marcelo Bielsa’s side took an early lead through Jack Harrison’s strike at Elland Road.
His 12th goal of the season was a sweet moment for Bamford, who had a miserable loan spell at Palace in 2015-16 while on the books at Chelsea.
“The most important thing is getting the three points but it’s nice to get to 100 career goals. It’s probably long overdue,” Bamford said.
“I captained myself in Fantasy Football. After I missed that one in the first half I was kicking myself so I’m glad I scored.”
Leeds are up to 10th place and their impressive first season back in the top-flight could yet feature a late push for a Europa League berth.
A first clean-sheet since December 29 was another welcome boost for Bielsa after six games without keeping the opposition at bay.
“Not having conceded is important. We didn’t commit any errors that would facilitate their attack. Our offence was good enough to get the two goals and we could have scored more,” Bielsa said.
“The most important thing is to show consistency. To have a period of the season where we have consistent results.”
– Clinical Bamford –
Mid-table Palace have now lost 17 of their past 19 league matches without Ivory Coast forward Wilfried Zaha, who was sidelined after suffering a hamstring injury in the win at Newcastle on Tuesday.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, a January loan signing from Mainz, made his Palace debut in Zaha’s absence, but his first contribution was one to forget.
Leeds made the perfect start in the third minute when Tyrick Mitchell’s clearance bounced off Mateta.
The ball ran to Harrison on the edge of the area and his shot took a substantial deflection off Gary Cahill before looping into the net.
It was Leeds’ fastest Premier League goal for 17 years and they nearly followed it with another moments later.
Bamford’s well-timed run across Cahill gave him the space to test Palace keeper Vicente Guaita with a powerful header.
Bamford missed a better chance after intercepting a loose pass from Luka Milivojevic and evading Cahill, only to blaze wide with just Guaita to beat.
Picked out by Kalvin Phillips’ cross, Pascal Struijk should have doubled Leeds’ advantage before half-time, but he headed woefully wide from three yards.
Palace had won just one of their last 23 league games after conceding the first goal.
Bamford ensured they would not improve on that dismal sequence when he netted his landmark goal in the 52nd minute.
Mateusz Klich found Raphinha in the Palace area and his shot was pushed out by Guaita, with Bamford pouncing on the loose ball with a clinical close-range finish.
Any hopes of a late Palace fightback were banished when Eberechi Eze wasted their best opportunity with a woeful finish that flew high over the bar.
Harrison could have given the scoreline an even worse look for lethargic Palace in the final minutes, but his shot rebounded off the bar.
smg/bsp
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