Eze hits heights as Vieira leaves Leeds in a spin
AT THE end of it all, Patrick Vieira was a picture of insouciance. there was the shake of a fist as he strolled past the Crystal Palace fans in the late afternoon sunshine and the faintest smile playing across his face. Yet nothing could disguise this was a win of real significance.
As Leeds dominated the first half, you wondered where this season was going for him. Vieira’s side were a goal down and labouring when goalkeeper Vicente Guaita dithered and passed the ball straight to Leeds’s Jack harrison. Boos rang out.
Vieira’s contribution to the turnaround was significant, with tactical shifts which were tangible. A more direct second-half approach bypassed the relentless pressing which had given Leeds superiority. the wonderfully talented Michael Olise was released to his more natural position on the right.
Leeds’s struggle to maintain their energy levels helped. had the returning Patrick Bamford converted an excellent chance with his side 1-0 ahead, it could have been a different story. Small margins.
But in the final reckoning, Palace had two players on a different level — Wilfried Zaha and Olise — to move them away from the bottom three and leave Leeds asking where all their bright August optimism has gone. the visiting team’s 3-0 win over Chelsea, 50 days ago, felt like a sunny upland. there have been two points from five games since.
Jesse Marsch’s team are the Premier League’s second youngest. It will take time. And in Brenden Aaronson, the slight, slopeshouldered American Marsch signed at Red Bull Salzburg before bringing him to Leeds, there is potential.
Aaronson might not look like a physical threat but he demonstrated once again yesterday an ability to press hard and look for the forward, vertical movement when the ball is at his very quick feet. It was his sense of attacking possibilities which saw him create Leeds’s opening goal. he threaded past three defenders before executing a left-foot shot which struck the post, rebounding out for Pascal Struijk to strike home under defender Joel Ward’s feet.
It was also Aaronson who rolled a ball through in tight space to present Bamford with his outstanding opportunity. the forward shot too close to the goalkeeper.
Aaronson’s struggle to maintain this level — he was substituted with 14 minutes to play — was one of the unfathomable aspects of the way Leeds faded. ‘Opponents are addressing him as player. he needs to find solutions,’ Marsch reflected.
As that threat diminished, Olise’s began to materialise. It had been a surprise to see him start the game in the centre, though when Vieira made the switch, bringing Jordan Ayew central to counter Leeds’s physicality, the London-born French Under 21 international was flying.
Odsonne edouard and eberechi eze delivered the vital interventions. edouard headed home a free kick which a fractional VAR decision ruled legal before eze capitalised on a mistimed tackle by Liam Cooper to drive home. But it was Olise who lit up Selhurst Park with his dancing feet, and Zaha was the one who proved his international class.
Unhappy with his own left back Jeffrey Schlupp’s contribution in the first half, Zaha found more space in the second. he set up the winner with the flick which eased tyrick Mitchell’s pass into the path of eze.
there must be acknowledgement of Leeds right back Rasmus Kristensen, who deterred Zaha for much of the afternoon. his audible scream when he blocked Ayew, after Olise had played him in, spoke for the Dane’s contribution.
Marsch’s remonstrations with the fourth official at half-time reflected an intensity he wants to see in his players. Yet he is also asking for less emotion and clearer heads. ‘We want our players to slow down a bit and execute with more quality but at a higher speed of play,’ he said.
Marsch said Bamford, appearing for the first time since he suffered an adductor injury in August, ‘can be part of the solution’. Leeds need him fully fit if they want to show the same attacking threat Palace had.
Both teams need to establish a position of relative safety before the league halts for a month for the World Cup. No one wants four weeks of anxiety clinging to them ahead of the Boxing Day restart. Vieira’s side have the flatter terrain before then.
‘We know how competitive it is and how tough to win two games in a row,’ he said. ‘Now we have to build.’ this is not a league for the faint-hearted.
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-3-3): Guaita 6; Ward 6.5, Andersen 6, Guehi 5.5, Schlupp 6; OLISE 8 (Hughes 85min), Doucoure 7 (Milivojevic 64, 5), Eze 7; J Ayew 6 (Mitchell 65, 6), Edouard 6.5, (Mateta 86), Zaha 7. Scorers: Edouard 24, Eze 76. Booked: Doucoure, Guehi, Olise. Manager: Patrick Vieira 7. LEEDS UNITED (4-2-3-1):) Meslier 6;; Kristensen 7.5 (Ayling 84), Koch 7, Cooper 6, Struijk 6; Adams 6, Rocaa 6.5 (Gelhardt 84); Aaronson 7.5 (Klich 76), Rodrigo 6, Harrison 7.5; Bamford 5.5 (Summerville 62, 5.5). Scorer: Struijk 10. Booked: Struijk, Kristensen, Koch. Manager: : Jesse Marsch 6. Referee: Paul Tierney 6.5. Att: Not provided.ed.