After beating Blackburn Rovers Under-21s 7-2 away from home in their Premier League 2 opener one week ago, Crystal Palace U21s were back on the road once again to face Leeds United U21s at the LNER Community Stadium.
Head coach Darren Powell made one change to the side that beat Rovers, as Joe Sheridan returned in place of Dylan Reid. Cormac Austin, who recently signed a professional contract, made the bench.
Palace got off to an incredible start and almost opened the scoring inside two minutes from a well-worked free-kick, which created an opening for Zach Marsh to get his shot away, but it was saved.
Hindolo Mustapha created a good opportunity for himself when he managed to create some space with his brilliant footwork and shoot, however his effort was cleared off the line halfway through the first-half.
The Eagles somehow didn’t score when Justin Devenny’s shot cannoned off Sheridan and into the path of Marsh, who put it just over the bar.
Palace were then punished right at the death of the first half, when Max McFadden smashed his penalty into the right-hand side of the goal to put Leeds ahead.
After a lack of chances for both sides at the start of the second half, Mustapha equalised with a moment of brilliance. With some help from Caleb Kporha to retrieve the ball, Mustapha dribbled into the edge of the box to shoot hard and low across the face of goal to get the Eagles level.
Following the equaliser, Palace raised their tempo and created chance after chance. Asher Agbinone managed to pick out Marsh in the box, but his swift shot was deflected and looped back out off the crossbar.
Sam Chambers was then sent off for Leeds in the 70th minute, as he was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Mustapha. He was initially booked in the first-half.
Palace threw everything they had at 10-man Leeds, but they were unable to find a breakthrough and had to settle for a draw at the LNER Community Staidum.
Powell's Eagles will now turn their attention to Real Sociedad in the Premier League International Cup after the international break, where they will be aiming to defend their title.
Leeds: Mahady (GK), Cresswell, Ferguson, Monteiro, Mullen (Lopata-White, 78), Moore, Chambers, Coleman (Pickles, 90), McFadden (Render, HT), Toulson, Chadwick.
Subs not used: Baird (GK), Vincent.
Palace: Moulden (GK), Kporha, Grante (Cardines, 88), Rodney (Umolu, 63), Sheridan, Jemide, Umeh (Nascimento, 63), Devenny (Austin, 63), Marsh, Mustapha (Gibbard, 88), Agbinone.
