Daniel Farke felt Leeds paid for two crazy minutes when “the whole world” was against his side in the 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace. Moments before half-time, Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed a penalty and full-back Gabriel Gudmundsson was controversially sent off.
Referee Tom Bramall appeared to have forgotten he had already booked Gudmundsson earlier, only showing a red card after being reminded. Farke fumed: “It was doubtful if it was a foul. It was not even close to a yellow card. But why, whenever he has decided to give a yellow card, most disappointing is more or less that he has forgotten that this player was already on the yellow card.”
The madness began in the 43rd minute when Palace captain Will Hughes handled a corner to concede a penalty. Calvert-Lewin sent goalkeeper Walter Benitez the wrong way but also sent the ball wide. “Even Harry Kane missed one lately for Bayern Munich,” added Farke. “It’s the fate of a striker.”
Leeds defender Jaka Bijol, already on a yellow, escaped a second booking for a body check. Instead, referee Bramall showed yellows to both managers. Farke said: “Why was I booked? The fourth official said both benches were getting emotional.”
Despite the setback, Farke praised his players: “If we’d have been allowed to play the second half with 11 players we could have won the game, but under the circumstances it’s a priceless point. It’s so difficult, in two minutes you feel the whole world is against you.”
Palace thought they had won late on when Jefferson Lerma bundled the ball home, but Brennan Johnson was flagged offside. Manager Oliver Glasner said: “We are not completely satisfied. Second half feels a little bit nervous, like we need to score because we are one player up and then we make bad decisions.”
