Leeds United picked up a vital win at as they struck late to defeat Crystal Palace at Elland Road.

Despite controlling much of the play, the Whites appeared to be headed for a third straight match at home without a win until Raphinha scored in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.

The win takes Leeds up to 15th in the Premier League table, half a dozen points above 18th-place Burnley, who play tomorrow. 

Story of the match

Marcelo Bielsa made three changes to the side that lost to Tottenham Hotspur with Pascal Struijk coming into the back-line. Mateusz Klich and Tyler Roberts were inserted in attack.

The hosts had a couple of chances in the opening ten minutes with Stuart Dallas squaring, Raphinha seeing his shot deflected and Adam Forshaw going wide of the post.

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Struijk was lucky not to be penalized after putting his hands squarely on the back of Jordan Ayew, but despite protests from Palace players, referee Kevin Friend and VAR saw nothing to award a spot-kick.

Despite the lack of goals, both sides entertained the crowd with some enticing passages of play, the ball being 30 yards from goal or being played down the wings for the majority of the first half.

Jeffrey Schlupp had the most notable chance for the Eagles, cutting in from the left-wing and having a go with his left foot, but he could only shoot wide.

With nothing of note over the opening 45 minutes, Bielsa decided to freshen things up for the second half, Junior Firpo and Rodrigo coming on for Struijk and Klich.

On 52 minutes, Dan James brought down a cross-field ball and squared for Rodrigo, whose momentum led the ball to go behind the goal with only Vicente Guaita to beat.

More chances fell Leeds' way, Guaita gathering in a Forshaw shot that ricocheted off of Marc Guehi's thigh and Kalvin Phillips trying his luck from 20 yards out only to see his shot blocked.

Cristian Benteke should have given Palace the lead as Wilfred Zaha hung up a ball to the far post for the Belgian, who could only power a header wide.

Ayew then collected the ball and drove into the box, Benteke sticking a leg out with the tip of his boot connecting with the ball, but Ilian Meslier scrambled back after being beaten to keep it out.

With the match apparently heading for a draw, in the dying embers, a corner was sent in that Liam Cooper met with his head, which struck Guehi on the arm.

Friend consulted with VAR, which led to him awarding a penalty and Raphinha calmly slotted home to send the Elland Road fans into raptures.

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Man of the match: Tyrick Mitchell

The left-back successfully got involved in attack and more than held his own against Raphinha and Dallas. He varied his passing, made four clearances, had six tackles and had a 74% success rate in 12 duels. Overall, a terrific effort despite being on the losing end of things.