Eberechi Eze ends Crystal Palace’s barren run with fine finish against Leeds

Eberechi Eze had waited a long time for this moment. More than 18 months after his last goal here, the Crystal Palace midfielder’s late winner ensured Patrick Vieira’s side picked up only their second Premier League victory of the season following a spirited comeback against Leeds.

Eze missed the majority of last season as he recovered from the ruptured achilles tendon he sustained in May 2021 but has shown signs of being back to the form that almost earned him an England call-up for Euro 2020. But while this was by no means a vintage performance from the 24-year-old after Palace fell behind to Pascal Struijk’s goal, Vieira will be delighted with the way he and his teammates responded to their early setback.

Odsonne Édouard’s equaliser after Patrick Bamford squandered a great chance against his former club gave Eze the platform to steal the headlines in the second half as Palace moved level on points with Jesse Marsch’s side. Given that Palace had failed to record a victory since beating Aston Villa here on 20 August and began the game level on points with Wolves in the bottom three, Vieira opted to go on the attack. Tyrick Mitchell lost his place at left-back to Jeffrey Schlupp, while there was a return in central defence for Joachim Andersen.

But if the prospect of seeing Eze and Michael Olise lining up in central midfield was an exciting one for the home supporters, the reality was not quite as convincing as Leeds took the initiative from the start. A poor back pass from Marc Guéhi that forced goalkeeper Vicente Guaita to give away possession set the tone for a mistake-riddled opening from the hosts that culminated in Struijk’s early breakthrough.

A brilliant mazy dribble from the outstanding Brenden Aaronson took him