Heidi's blog Leeds United v Crystal Palace 9th April 2023 at Elland Road please log in to view this image My mum used to tell me that I would forget my head if it were loose, and she wasn’t wrong. After making sure I’d my parking permit today, luckily, I realised I’d left my phone in the room before leaving the hotel. There again after the score today, maybe it was a premonition meaning I should have stayed at home; I would still rather be there in person though. It was nice to see fans from Thailand, Singapore and Malta before the game and thanks to Catherine for the eggs. Today saw the families of Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight who were murdered in Istanbul at the game. A minute’s applause was given at the start of the game and once again on the 23rd minute, fans in the stands turned their backs to the pitch in their memory. Team: Meslier, Ayling (captain), Koch, Struijk, Aaronson, McKennie, Bamford, Harrison, Firpo, Roca, Sinisterra, Subs: Rodrigo for Sinisterra (60), Kristensen for Firpo (60), Gnonto for Aaronson (60), Rutter for Bamford (79). Subs not used: Robles, Greenwood, Summerville, Cooper, Forshaw. Leeds lost the game 5-1 with Bamford scoring for Leeds (21). Attendance: 36,427 with approx. 1,900 Palace fans. Referee: Simon Hooper. Booked: McKennie. Well, it was certainly a tale of two halves today as during the first half Leeds were in control. We took a deserved lead with a great headed goal from Bamford after 21 minutes and should have had a few more prior to that. Palace had their keeper to thank making saves from Sinisterra and Aaronson plus Leeds saw shots from both Sinisterra going wide and Bamford over the top as they put the pressure on Palace. After having most of the game Palace nearly forced their way back into it when McKennie cleared the ball off the line to prevent an equaliser. My daughter Michelle had already said some of their players looked very fast and we’d have to watch them. Harrison was denied a goal with a great save by their keeper from our free kick, who made an equally impressive save to deny Struijk as well as saved from Koch. With a minute of injury time on the clock, we were made to rue the missed chances as Palace scored with seconds of the half left as we went into the break on level terms. That goal against us was to prove costly because at the start of the second half you could see Palace gaining strength. I said we needed to change things, but Gracia didn’t go to the bench until Palace had scored two more goals in quick succession putting us on the back foot. Although we made a triple sub on the hour mark, we had a brief rally but were well and truly beaten on the day as Palace got two more goals. We were like headless chickens in the end as they had the speed to get behind our defence and we had no answer to their attacks. When they got the fifth goal, Elland Road emptied although we stayed until the bitter end as usual. With those fans still left in the ground trying to get behind the team, we honestly cannot remember seeing so many fans walk out before the end of a game, even when things have been bad before. It shows how bad the performance was in the second half. Yes, there have been many gaps appear in the stands before but today was on a different level and I don’t think any of us would have predicted that final score at half time. What happened at half time has been one of the questions being asked on social media and unless someone comes out and says something, we will never know what changed. Without another welcome three points today, we are still right bang in the middle of a relegation battle and who knows how things will turn out at the end of the season. I’ve still got hope and belief until you can’t change the outcome, so this means we’ve got to beat Liverpool next instead! See you there, LUFC – Marching on Together! please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
