It took just 75 seconds for relegation-haunted Palace to expose the defensive frailities that have surely condemned Leeds to a season of what might have been.

Before kick-off, ex-boss turned pundit Eddie Gray lamented the lapses of defensive concentration which have proved so costly to Leeds ambitions this season.

However you do not have to be a whites' legend or even one of the admirable 6,000 souls who made the long haul south from Yorkshire to know where Leeds problems lie.

And poor Simon Grayson. He kept an unchanged team from the side that drew with Reading on Friday night and within 1 minute 30 seconds the home side were in front, Danns' the scorer albeit via a wicked deflection.

The hosts needed the win to virtually stave off relegation. The whites hunted all three points to muscle their way back into a play-off place campaign which has slipped from their grasp in recent weeks.

Leeds enjoyed plenty of possession, Robert Snodgrass in particular showing off hois talents on the left but chances were few and far between. One-time Leeds loanee Dougie Freedman, now Palace boss had organised his side well and they were not going to surrender their early good fortune easily.

At half-time Grayson rotated Livermore for Kilkenny and changed the shape slightly by bringing on Sanchez Watt for Paul Connolly - however it was a case of same old, Leeds enjoying lots of possession without really troubling Speroni's goal.

At the end, Palace celebrated survival certainty and it seems more than likely that Leeds will have to make this horrible journey to this decrepit stadium next season. A small crumb of consolation is that this result virtually relegates Preston and Sheffield United.

Photo: Action Images

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