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Crystal Palace of England dazzler, Eberechi Eze is still ranking ahead of his fellow-Nigerian-born club mate and new kid on the block, Michael Olise in the perking order at The Eagles, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although Olsie has been rated as the rave of the moment and tipped to do great exploits with The Eagles in years to come, the French youth international is yet to catch up with Eze.
That as further affirmed in The Eagles’ last match, as Eze got a starting role for the hosts, while Olise once again played as a second half substitute in their goalless draw with Leeds United.
Eze eventually got replaced in the 72nd minute of play at Selhurst Park, while Olise got off the hosts’ bench in the 63rd, but both players could not change the tide for their side.
In contrast with wide held views that Palace would make the best use of home advantage to dump their less fancied visitors, Eze, Olise and their colleagues could not rise to the occasion, as Leeds battled for a 0-0 draw that keeps them five points clear of the drop zone.
Seventeenth-placed Burnley’s 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday piled the pressure on Leeds ahead of their trip to Selhurst Park.
However, Jesse Marsch’s side were unable to find a win of their own, with just three points separating the teams ahead of the final five games of the season.
Palace were dominant and will feel disappointed they failed to secure a win that would have taken them to 40 points and put to bed any remaining concerns of relegation.
While Leeds will be pleased to have come away with a point, it leaves them in a precarious position ahead of a tough run-in which includes matches against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Marsch blamed a lack of “game sharpness” on his side’s slow start in south London, with Palace twice coming close to opening the scoring inside 20 minutes.
Marsch tried to freshen things up at half-time by bringing on Robin Koch for Mateusz Klich, but Palace continued to look the more threatening side.
The arrival of Olise off the bench only made matters worse for Leeds, as he and Wilfried Zaha wreaked havoc for the visiting defenders on either wing.
However, Leeds continued to prevent Palace from carving out any clear-cut chances, with Joel Ward and Conor Gallagher coming close with efforts from outside the area.
Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier produced a fine double save to deny Palace forward Zaha with less than 10 minutes to go.
Olise found Gallagher inside the penalty area late on, but the midfielder’s effort was tame and straight at Meslier.
It may not have been pretty but Marsch has transformed a Leeds defence that has shipped more EPL goals (68) than every other team aside from basement club Norwich (69).
Leeds’ new-found solidity could prove to be vital, with three of their final five games against teams in the top four.
Marsch told Sky Sports it was a “big point that gets us closer to our ultimate goal” while admitting that there was some disappointment with the overall performance.
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