Post by Taxigirl on Mar 22, 2006 8:37:45 GMT
www.leedsunited.com/report
Venue
Elland Road
Kick-Off Time
21 March 2006 7:45pm
Attendance
24,507
Jobi McAnuff, 43
Pre-Match
United boss Kevin Blackwell made one change to the side that drew with Coventry and Norwich the week before that, and it was upfront when the change was made.
Robbie Blake's run of seven games in the starting line-up came to an end as he made way for David Healy, who was starting only his second game in seven.
Their was a surprise on the bench where new signing Jermaine Beckford made an appearance. The 22-year-old former non-league striker only signed for the club last week and the week before that he was appearing in Crystal Palace's reserves!
The Match
The night was supposed to be about Leeds closing the gap on Sheffield United to just a point but the script was torn up by Palace who have automatic promotion hopes of their own.
Crystal Palace boss Iain Dowie has been talking up Andy Johnson's claims for making the England World Cup squad but if Sven-Goran Eriksson was watching he would not have been impressed with the two glorious chances the striker missed in the first ten minutes.
In the fourth minute Johnson was found in acres of space after Clinton Morrison's dummy played him in but he shot straight at Neil Sullivan from eight yards out with a weak attempt that hardly tested the former Scotland keeper
Then after Shaun Derry's was robbed of the ball in midfield the ball was quickly farmed forward to Johnson and an electric burst of pace enabled him to break clear of Kelly but this time he didn't even force a save out of Sullivan as his shot went wide.
They were let-offs for Leeds but the Whites had their own good chances in the opening stages that they passed up.
With seven minutes played Healy managed to take the ball around the last defender, Leigertwood, but from a wide position his shot was wild and wayward.
A minute later and a Kelly free-kick was perfect for Jonathan Douglas 12-yards out but the midfielder's stooping header went well wide of the left hand post.
Leeds came more to life midway through the half and a spectacular drive from Gary Kelly nearly produced the opening goal.
A corner was half-cleared to the Irishman on the right hand edge of the penalty area and he instinctively volleyed it back towards goal, getting plenty of power and direction behind the shot but the slightest of deflections took it past the Palace goal.
United escaped again on the half hour as sloppy defending allowed the flighty left-back Mikele Liegertwood to try out his shooting boots.
Liegertwood evaded Derry's challenge on the edge of the box and hit a right footed curling shot that brought the best out of Sullivan as he got down well to make the block. Morrison was following up but he blasted the loose ball into the side netting, although he was offside anyway.
Palace skipper Michael Hughes earned himself the first yellow card of the evening with a shoulder charge on Kelly that sent the United man sprawling to the deck.
The warning signs had been there and three minutes before the break the visitors got the breakthrough.
Another United move broke down, Johnson took it upfield and laid the ball off to Jobi McAnuff, who came off the bench at Selhurst Park to score
what proved to to be a consolation goal for the Eagles in the meeting just over two weeks ago, drove the ball home from the right hand side of the area into the opposite corner of the net.
Leeds needed to wake up and Blackwell was certain to read the riot act at half-time.
After the break they were presented with a chance to test Palace keeper Gabor Kiraly with a free-kick from 20-yards out, and Lewis, who had scored a dramatic late equaliser in the previous home game against Norwich, was just off-target this time as he looked to go around the wall rather than over it as he had done last time.
David Healy might have done better with the first chance that came his way in the half, but he could only find the side netting. It was to prove to be the Northern Ireland international's last real chance of scoring as he was replaced by Robbie Blake just after the hour.
Leeds turned up the pressure and got Elland Road singing and then the chances started coming.
Eddie Lewis' free-kick deep into the area was met at the back post by Matthew Kilgallon's diving header but a defender on the line managed to get the block in.
Still the danger was not over for Palace and Miller was desperately unlucky when his low curling drive was just held by the keeper who got down well to his right.
Blake was full of running and his tricky footwork with just under 20 minutes left to play saw him create a good scoring opportunity as he skipped inside the left-back but then also found the side netting with the shot.
Kilgallon was booked shortly afterwards for a late tackle on Johnson.
With quarter of an hour including injury time to play, Blackwell made Jermaine Beckford's dream come true when he threw the striker on. Stephen Crainey came off and Leeds switched to three at the back and three upfront.
Leeds found Eagles keeper Kiraly equal to everything they had to throw at him, and he did particularly well to pluck a Lewis cross out of the air under pressure from Hulse.
Blackwell made his final change of the night with less than five minutes remaining, bringing Douglas off and giving Eirik Bakke a run.
Beckford came within inches of finding the net on his debut when he raced through to meet Butler's header, and slightly off-balance, managed to get a boot out and stab the ball towards goal, just putting the ball the wrong side of the right hand post. It would not have counted had he been on target though as the flag was up for offside.
An injury time free-kick was lined up by Robbie Blake but the striker could only blast his shot against a covering defender and the final whistle went on a game the fans and players alike would be keen to remember.
Venue
Elland Road
Kick-Off Time
21 March 2006 7:45pm
Attendance
24,507
Officials
Referee
Phil Joslin
Leeds United
Starting XI
1Sullivan, Neil
2Kelly, Gary
6Butler, Paul
26Kilgallon, Matthew
3Crainey, Stephen
17Miller, Liam
20Douglas, Jonathan
21Derry, Shaun
11Lewis, Eddie
9Healy, David
10Hulse, Rob
Substitutes
13Bennett, Ian
19Bakke, Eirik
22Moore, Ian
28Blake, Robbie
32Beckford, Jemaine
Crystal Palace
Starting XI
1Kiraly, Gabor
21Boyce, Emmerson
4Ward, Darren
25Hall, Fitz
12Leigertwood, Mikele
15Riihilahti, Aki
14Watson, Ben
17Hughes, Michael
7McAnuff, Jobi
8Johnson, Andrew
11Morrison, Clinton
Substitutes
28Speroni, Julian
6Popovic, Tony
19Soares, Tom
22Reich, Marco
9Freedman, Dougie
MAN OF THE MATCH
The online vote
28% Gary Kelly ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
21% Jemaine Beckford
18% Eirik Bakke
7% Ian Bennett
5% Matthew Kilgallon
4% David Healy
4% Robbie Blake
3% Neil Sullivan
3% Eddie Lewis
3% Liam Miller
2% Shaun Derry
2% Rob Hulse
1% Jonathan Douglas
1% Stephen Crainey
1% Ian Moore
0% Paul Butler
Venue
Elland Road
Kick-Off Time
21 March 2006 7:45pm
Attendance
24,507
Jobi McAnuff, 43
Pre-Match
United boss Kevin Blackwell made one change to the side that drew with Coventry and Norwich the week before that, and it was upfront when the change was made.
Robbie Blake's run of seven games in the starting line-up came to an end as he made way for David Healy, who was starting only his second game in seven.
Their was a surprise on the bench where new signing Jermaine Beckford made an appearance. The 22-year-old former non-league striker only signed for the club last week and the week before that he was appearing in Crystal Palace's reserves!
The Match
The night was supposed to be about Leeds closing the gap on Sheffield United to just a point but the script was torn up by Palace who have automatic promotion hopes of their own.
Crystal Palace boss Iain Dowie has been talking up Andy Johnson's claims for making the England World Cup squad but if Sven-Goran Eriksson was watching he would not have been impressed with the two glorious chances the striker missed in the first ten minutes.
In the fourth minute Johnson was found in acres of space after Clinton Morrison's dummy played him in but he shot straight at Neil Sullivan from eight yards out with a weak attempt that hardly tested the former Scotland keeper
Then after Shaun Derry's was robbed of the ball in midfield the ball was quickly farmed forward to Johnson and an electric burst of pace enabled him to break clear of Kelly but this time he didn't even force a save out of Sullivan as his shot went wide.
They were let-offs for Leeds but the Whites had their own good chances in the opening stages that they passed up.
With seven minutes played Healy managed to take the ball around the last defender, Leigertwood, but from a wide position his shot was wild and wayward.
A minute later and a Kelly free-kick was perfect for Jonathan Douglas 12-yards out but the midfielder's stooping header went well wide of the left hand post.
Leeds came more to life midway through the half and a spectacular drive from Gary Kelly nearly produced the opening goal.
A corner was half-cleared to the Irishman on the right hand edge of the penalty area and he instinctively volleyed it back towards goal, getting plenty of power and direction behind the shot but the slightest of deflections took it past the Palace goal.
United escaped again on the half hour as sloppy defending allowed the flighty left-back Mikele Liegertwood to try out his shooting boots.
Liegertwood evaded Derry's challenge on the edge of the box and hit a right footed curling shot that brought the best out of Sullivan as he got down well to make the block. Morrison was following up but he blasted the loose ball into the side netting, although he was offside anyway.
Palace skipper Michael Hughes earned himself the first yellow card of the evening with a shoulder charge on Kelly that sent the United man sprawling to the deck.
The warning signs had been there and three minutes before the break the visitors got the breakthrough.
Another United move broke down, Johnson took it upfield and laid the ball off to Jobi McAnuff, who came off the bench at Selhurst Park to score
what proved to to be a consolation goal for the Eagles in the meeting just over two weeks ago, drove the ball home from the right hand side of the area into the opposite corner of the net.
Leeds needed to wake up and Blackwell was certain to read the riot act at half-time.
After the break they were presented with a chance to test Palace keeper Gabor Kiraly with a free-kick from 20-yards out, and Lewis, who had scored a dramatic late equaliser in the previous home game against Norwich, was just off-target this time as he looked to go around the wall rather than over it as he had done last time.
David Healy might have done better with the first chance that came his way in the half, but he could only find the side netting. It was to prove to be the Northern Ireland international's last real chance of scoring as he was replaced by Robbie Blake just after the hour.
Leeds turned up the pressure and got Elland Road singing and then the chances started coming.
Eddie Lewis' free-kick deep into the area was met at the back post by Matthew Kilgallon's diving header but a defender on the line managed to get the block in.
Still the danger was not over for Palace and Miller was desperately unlucky when his low curling drive was just held by the keeper who got down well to his right.
Blake was full of running and his tricky footwork with just under 20 minutes left to play saw him create a good scoring opportunity as he skipped inside the left-back but then also found the side netting with the shot.
Kilgallon was booked shortly afterwards for a late tackle on Johnson.
With quarter of an hour including injury time to play, Blackwell made Jermaine Beckford's dream come true when he threw the striker on. Stephen Crainey came off and Leeds switched to three at the back and three upfront.
Leeds found Eagles keeper Kiraly equal to everything they had to throw at him, and he did particularly well to pluck a Lewis cross out of the air under pressure from Hulse.
Blackwell made his final change of the night with less than five minutes remaining, bringing Douglas off and giving Eirik Bakke a run.
Beckford came within inches of finding the net on his debut when he raced through to meet Butler's header, and slightly off-balance, managed to get a boot out and stab the ball towards goal, just putting the ball the wrong side of the right hand post. It would not have counted had he been on target though as the flag was up for offside.
An injury time free-kick was lined up by Robbie Blake but the striker could only blast his shot against a covering defender and the final whistle went on a game the fans and players alike would be keen to remember.
Venue
Elland Road
Kick-Off Time
21 March 2006 7:45pm
Attendance
24,507
Officials
Referee
Phil Joslin
Leeds United
Starting XI
1Sullivan, Neil
2Kelly, Gary
6Butler, Paul
26Kilgallon, Matthew
3Crainey, Stephen
17Miller, Liam
20Douglas, Jonathan
21Derry, Shaun
11Lewis, Eddie
9Healy, David
10Hulse, Rob
Substitutes
13Bennett, Ian
19Bakke, Eirik
22Moore, Ian
28Blake, Robbie
32Beckford, Jemaine
Crystal Palace
Starting XI
1Kiraly, Gabor
21Boyce, Emmerson
4Ward, Darren
25Hall, Fitz
12Leigertwood, Mikele
15Riihilahti, Aki
14Watson, Ben
17Hughes, Michael
7McAnuff, Jobi
8Johnson, Andrew
11Morrison, Clinton
Substitutes
28Speroni, Julian
6Popovic, Tony
19Soares, Tom
22Reich, Marco
9Freedman, Dougie
MAN OF THE MATCH
The online vote
28% Gary Kelly ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
21% Jemaine Beckford
18% Eirik Bakke
7% Ian Bennett
5% Matthew Kilgallon
4% David Healy
4% Robbie Blake
3% Neil Sullivan
3% Eddie Lewis
3% Liam Miller
2% Shaun Derry
2% Rob Hulse
1% Jonathan Douglas
1% Stephen Crainey
1% Ian Moore
0% Paul Butler