Patrick Bamford scored the 100th league goal of his career as Leeds United comfortably cruised past Crystal Palace on a slippery surface in Yorkshire.
Leeds now find themselves in the top half of the table following their 10th win back in the top flight this season following promotion from the Championship in the previous campaign.
It only took three minutes for the hosts to take the lead on the night, after Jack Harrison’s deflected effort sailed past a helpless Vincente Guaita.
Bamford had a brilliant chance to double the Whites’ lead when he capitalised on a lazy pass from Palace midfielder Luka Milivojevic and found himself through on goal. He did everything right but fluffed the finish and skewed his effort over the bar.
However, it was Bamford himself who laid the Eagles to rest following a brief period of Palace pressure at the start of the second half. Raphinha, dynamic as always, took aim from outside the box and the resulting effort was parried by Guaita into the path of Bamford who duly tucked home for the 100th career league goal.
The 27-year-old has had a mixed career so far, which included stints at the likes of Chelsea and Derby County as well as a rather torrid loan spell at Palace. Leeds fans up and down the country will be grateful that he appears to have finally settled in Yorkshire and has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water, scoring 12 goals so far this season.
On the other hand Crystal Palace supporters will be hoping that January recruit Jean-Philippe Mateta can start finding the back of the net soon as they look to distance themselves from any potential relegation battle.
Although for the most part they look safe, it’s not completely inconceivable that they get sucked into the mire below, given the unpredictability that has come as part of the strangest Premier League season ever seen.
Facing Leeds without the injured Wilfried Zaha, usually their most dangerous outlet, Palace failed to register much of a goal threat and went closest through Eberechi Eze who shot wildly over the bar when presented with the ball in the box. It’s a stark contrast from the 22-year-old’s last game against Leeds, when he scored a sublime long range free-kick in a 4-1 rout of the Whites in SE25 in November.
The introduction of livewire Andros Townsend for Patrick Van Aanholt at half-time looked to have reignited Palace but hopes of a comeback were quashed when Bamford doubled Leeds’ advantage just seven minutes into the second half.
Palace could have gone into the top half themselves with a win, but instead find themselves stuck in 13th for the time being. They now have time to rest and recover before a home game against Burnley on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
Meanwhile, Leeds travel to London to face an Arsenal side looking to turn their fortunes around following two narrow losses in the West Midlands against Wolves and Aston Villa.
That game takes place on Sunday, February 14 (4.30pm) and on Valentines Day it just remains to be seen whether Marcelo Bielsa and his players can etch themselves further into the hearts of Leeds fans around the world with another memorable victory.
