nPower Championship: Crystal Palace 1 - Leeds United 1

CRYSTAL Palace held on for a gutsy point against fellow play-off hopefuls Leeds United despite playing more than half a game a man light after Sean Scannell was sent off.

Robert Snodgrass equalised mid-way through the second half to cancel out Chris Martin's opener, but the home side will have been pleased to hold on for a point as a number of refereeing decisions went against them.

Palace boss Dougie Freedman again rotated his side following Tuesday night's Carling Cup semi-final first leg win over Cardiff City, with Wilfried Zaha and Glenn Murray both dropped to the bench as the manager looked to freshen things up.

And the changes had an instant impact as Palace raced out of the traps. Martin and Kagisho Dikgacoi both forced saves out of Andy Lonergan before, with six minutes on the clock, Martin opened the scoring for the home side with an excellent finish from well outside the area that squirted inside the bottom corner.

Mustapha Dumbuya, making his home debut for the Eagles at right back with Nathaniel Clyne still out with a virus, surged forward out of defence before finding Darren Ambrose. The winger advanced unchallenged before he played a neat ball to Martin who took advantage of some lax marking by drilling his shot past Lonergan.

It was the least Palace deserved as they dominated the opening exchanges, however they were unable to find the second goal. Ambrose and Scannell both should have done better when well placed to shoot, with the latter's touch letting him down and allowing Aidan White to get back and provide a vital block.

Leeds, who have been in dire form in recent weeks, were struggling to cope with the Eagles movement buts started to come into the game as the half wore on.

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First Ross McCormack had a fierce shot blocked by David Wright, before Julian Speroni backed up his manager's pre-game claim that he is the best goalkeeper outside of the Premier League by a stunning double save that kept his side ahead to deny Adam Clayton and Danny Pugh in quick succession.

It was a huge let off for Palace and one they should have capitalised on as they wasted a glorious opportunity to double their advantage moments later. Martin exchanged a one-two with Jermaine Easter on the edge of the area but the striker blasted the return pass over the bar when he should have passed to Scannell who was free at the back post.

And they were punished for the miss as, right on the stroke of half time, disaster struck for the home side. Scannell, who had already been booked for a sliding tackle on Andros Townsend, picked up his second yellow card as he tripped Pugh.

Undoubtedly it was a soft booking, although having already been cautioned the player was perhaps a little naive to put the referee in the position where he was able to make the decision. Whether or not it was the right decision the sending off certainly changed the whole complexion of the game as the Eagles attempted to hold onto their lead in the face of some serious United pressure in the second half.

McCormack and Tom Lees both tested Speroni before, in the 63rd minute, Leeds finally found a way through. Clayton played a clever ball for McCormack in behind the Eagles back line and the striker squared for substitute Snodgrass who made no mistake from eight yards, sliding the ball past Speroni.

Freedman's response was to introduce both Murray and Zaha from the bench, but despite the pair's best efforts they could not stop the visitor's attacks, and it was only Speroni's excellent save that denied Mikael Forsell a late winner.

Crystal Palace: Speroni, Wright, McCarthy, Gardner, Dumbuya (McShane), Parr, Ambrose, Dikgacoi, Scannell, Easter (Murray 82), Martin (Zaha 70).

Unused subs: Price, Jedinak.

Leeds United: Lonergan, Lees, White (Snodgrass 56), Thompson, O'Dea, Brown, Clayton, Pugh, Townsend, Becchio (Forssell 79), McCormack.

Unused subs: Taylor, Bruce, Nunez.

Referee: D Coote

Attendance: 17,796