Crystal Palace managed to avoid defeat in their final Premier League game ahead of the three week international break, perhaps unfortunate not to return South with all three points. 

The noise surrounding Pierre Sage’s future ahead of the game was as short lived as it was unnecessary, but a resounding improvement in performance level, especially defensively, has surely alleviated any pressure that perhaps was real. 

But what were the key learning points from Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Elland Road, and how has it changed the perspective surrounding the club and more importantly the manager? 

We mentioned this in midweek after the 4-0 win over Lech Poznań, but the decision to drop Jaydee Canvot in hopes that he would ‘react’ was justified entirely after his performance at Leeds.

Canvot put in a superb display, and showed confidence and quality in bundles, two things that had been missing from his game so far this season, two things we had in some part contributed to him being dropped. 

We saw more of the Canvot which earned a starting place in last year’s side, driving forwards with the ball and dominating in defensive duels too. 

Whilst Sage’s approach can come across as slightly brutal, there’s no doubt that it reveals which players possess the right mindset to push themselves and compete for a space, and which do not. 

There is clearly a difference when it comes to Evann Guessand, which can be inferred by his consistent exclusion from the squad. At this rate it only makes sense to cancel his loan in January as he clearly isn’t favoured and doesn’t have a role to play under Sage. 

Despite his ongoing desperation to leave the club across the summer, Palace fans were somewhat surprised when Sage announced that Sarr would miss the start of the season through injury, many assuming that this was purely a smokescreen to excuse the player’s poor attitude. 

However, after watching him play in person at Elland Road on Sunday, it’s fair to say that the Senegalese international is in fact injured. There was an evident level of tentativity to his play, and clear discomfort when he was running, giving the illusion that he may have lost an entire leg compared to the explosive bursts of pace we’re used to seeing. 

If anything, it looked like this return was too early for Sarr. Either that, or he was simply trying his best not to provoke his groin any further, which is an extremely sensitive area once injured already. 

Read that again, your eyes were not deceiving you. The widespread fee for the Dutch midfielder was around £17m, which to be frank, is an absolute bargain. 

Not only has he come into the side and cemented himself as a starter immediately, but his performance level has genuinely been elite. The player of the month award for September is a close race between Timber and Tyrick Mitchell, which goes some way to demonstrating just how good Timber has been. 

The level of energy and aggression that he’s added to the Palace midfield is something that we were deeply missing before, but perhaps hadn’t realised. Wharton x Kamada was always considered to be relatively lightweight, but they did tend to get the job done. Quinten Timber is putting in overtime every night. 

His athleticism and tackling ability is incredible to watch, and the way that he covers ground and almost exclusively maintains possession when he tackles is not only a great trait to have in the squad, but one which frustrates opposition fans as much as it thrills the Palace support. 

The best way to describe Timber’s play is that he is at the heart of everything good Palace do. At one point in the second half, he made a challenge on the edge of the Leeds box and then sprinted all the way to Palace’s left-back area to make another challenge. 

That level of commitment doesn’t go unnoticed, and the overall level of his performances have seen him earn a call up to Xavi’s Netherlands squad. 

Phew! At some points this year it has felt as if the goal is to simply outscore the opponent with little focus on how the side defends. Of course this was not the case, but more so a result of the back three being disrupted and Sage attempting to settle on a definitive starting trio, which he is still yet to do. 

Palace defended well in the first half but looked increasingly more secure in the second, and Jefferson Lerma’s introduction was a huge reason for that. He bought a level of calm and experience to the backline, and was a huge figure for his side defensively in that half. 

Leeds have consistently thrived through set pieces, whether that be delivered off the foot or from Ethan Ampadu’s long throw. The overall dominance that they’ve shown in the season so far in these areas was a cause for concern for Palace fans, but it has to be said that Palace dealt with everything Leeds threw at them and with relative ease. 

Richards, Canvot and Lerma all put in top displays, defending the box well and limiting space for Calvert-Lewin. 

Considering how dire Palace were in terms of defending set pieces last season at this ground, and how disjointed the defence has been overall this season, it was a really strong performance against one of the league’s form sides. 

Overall it was a much improved performance, and Palace were unfortunate not to find a winning strike, even if it felt extremely harsh that Anan Khalaili’s shoulder being an inch offside was enough to rule out Mitchell’s goal. 

Palace will go into the international break with high spirits and will be hoping that a few weeks on the grass can prepare them for what will certainly be a tough run of games to follow.