Leeds United's survival hopes were dealt a significant blow this afternoon at home to fellow strugglers, Crystal Palace, with the visitors running out 5-1 winners following a remarkable second-half display at Elland Road.

It had initially been a scintillating start for the Whites as they took a deserved lead through Patrick Bamford's guided header, only for compatriot Marc Guehi to convert at the other end on the stroke of half-time to drag the away side level.

That sucker punch just before the break appeared to knock the stuffing out of Javi Gracia's men as they simply capitulated in the second period, with Jordan Ayew bagging a brace, while both Odsonne Edouard and Eberechi Eze also got in on the act to rub further salt in the wounds.

Such a Jekyll and Hyde performance from the Yorkshire side will no doubt have Gracia tearing his hair out, with the performance of captain Luke Ayling likely to be of particular concern, with the Englishman having been simply woeful in that stunning collapse.

The former Bristol City man was particularly erratic on the ball as he lost possession on 31 occasions, while also proving culpable in the Eagles' second of the day, having merely allowed the aforementioned Ayew to head home.

Unsurprisingly, the 31-year-old's grim outing – in which he won just six of his 21 duels and was dribbled past on six occasions – saw him record the worst match rating of the lot, according to Sofascore, having been awarded a dismal 5.4/10.

The struggling full-back was not alone in having stunk the place out at Elland Road, however, with fellow defender Pascal Struijk having also endured a grim afternoon against Roy Hodgson's men.

How did Struijk perform against Palace?

The 23-year-old centre-back was at the 'eye of that second-half storm', according to Leeds Live's Beren Cross, as he was among those who simply could not live with the fluid nature of Palace's relentless forward line.

As 90min's Jack Gallagher noted, the former Netherlands youth international notably 'struggled to deal with Edouard's movement', with the home side likely ruing the absence of the stricken Max Wober in that left-sided berth.

The 54-touch dud, like Ayling, was also far too easily beaten as he was dribbled past four times in total, having also been rather lightweight at the heart of the backline after losing eight of his 12 total duels, including winning just one of his four aerial duels.

That is a worrying record indeed for the 6 foot 3 asset, with Yorkshire Evening Post writer Graham Smyth correctly summating that Stuijk looked like a 'rabbit in headlights at times' in that latter 45 minutes.

Those woes are laid bare by the fact that the £50k-per-week brute was also awarded a meagre 5.5 match rating, as per Sofascore, with that the second-worst rating of any player on the day, just marginally ahead of Ayling.

There is no doubt that Stuijk and his teammates will be hoping to forget this Easter horror show as soon as possible.