Manchester United failed to make their dominance count as they were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The Red Devils produced arguably their best performance of the season in the first half and could easily have been three or four goals up at the break. Dean Henderson in the Palace goal was excellent and worked tirelessly to keep United out.
Palace had a handful of bright moments and could have stolen three points with two chances from Ebere Eze, but the two sides could not be separated.
How the game developed
It took ten minutes for the first chance of the game to emerge. Alejandro Garnacho was played in behind by Joshua Zirkzee, but former United man Dean Henderson equalized his low effort, clearing the ball away from danger.
Henderson had to be alert to deny Matthijs de Ligt soon after. An unmarked header from a corner needed a block from the Palau goalkeeper, who shortly afterwards had to deny Lisandro Martínez in a very intense start to the game.
27 minutes into the game, United fans were left wondering how they hadn’t opened the scoring. Garnacho bent a sumptuous effort onto the crossbar, before the rebound was also volleyed wide to the right by Bruno Fernandes.
Zirkzee was next to try his luck. He rose comfortably higher than any Palace defender to get a corner, only to send his effort wide of the goal when he perhaps should have scored.
Fernandes’ low cross caused all sorts of problems and Henderson had to turn a Zirkzee strike onto his post as Garnacho dived to try and get the touch needed to convert, with United struggling to turn their dominance into goals.
Against the run of play, Palace perhaps should have taken the lead at the break. In his first foray into the box for United, Ebere Eze collected a cut-back but sent an effort home into the grateful hands of Andre Onana.
Fernandes advanced with the outside of his boot as United maintained their momentum in the second half, and Henderson’s intense evening was resumed with an acrobatic save to deny Garnacho from close range.
At the other end, Onana was finally called into action. A low save from Eddie Nketiah was followed by an excellent second from Ismaila Sarr. A double save that rivaled David Raya’s heroics for Arsenal against Atalanta.
Eze missed another great chance in a rare counter. The Palau keeper found an inch of space in the box, but doubled his first goal the wrong side of Ona’s post.
The hosts finally grew into the game in the final 20 minutes, with United losing some of their lead in the final third as a result, but there were no further chances of goal as both teams had to settle for a share of the spoils.
GK: Dean Henderson – 8/10 – Although none of his saves were particularly noteworthy, Henderson was incredibly busy as he flew around his goal trying to keep United out.
CB: Maxence Lacroix – 5/10 – He couldn’t keep up with Garnacho in the first half. He seemed to settle down a bit after the break.
CB: Marc Guehi – 6/10 – Visibly frustrated by the lack of help around him. He did what he could.
CB: Chris Richards – 5/10 – Really bad back distribution. He sent a bunch of long balls aimlessly forward.
RM: Daniel Muñoz – 5/10 – He tried to get involved in attack but offered very little and then found himself struggling to deal with Garnacho again.
CM: Adam Wharton – 4/10 – Whether it was a tactical or individual matter, Wharton couldn’t keep up with United’s midfielders and got stuck on the break.
CM: Daichi Kamada – 5/10 – He looked lost in this midfield pivot, but improved when allowed to push further forward.
LM: Tyrick Mitchell – 6/10 – He defended deep and kept Amad frustrated. Unspectacular but reliable.
AM: King’s Mercy – 5/10 – I struggled to get into the game in the first half. Should have done better with two exceptional chances.
AM: Eddie Nketiah – 6/10 – He put in a shift trying to make things happen, but he didn’t have the luck he needed.
ST: Jean-Philippe Mateta – 5/10 – A physical threat but he had to feed on leftovers.
Substitutes
SUB: Jefferson Lerma (46′ for Wharton) – 6/10
SUB: Ismaila Sarr (46′ for Mateta) – 6/10
SUB: Will Hughes (66′ for Nketiah) – 6/10
SUB: Jeffrey Schlupp (90′ for Eze) – N/A
Subs not used: Matt Turner (GK), Joel Ward, Nathaniel Clyne, Asher Agbinone, Franco Umeh-Chibueze
manager
Oliver Glasner – 5/10 – Palace were woeful for large parts of this game but, to Glasner’s credit, his substitutions brought improvements.
GK: Andre Onana – 7/10 – Barely tried apart from an incredible double stop.
RB: Noussair Mazraoui – 8/10 – A truly impressive performance on the right. Stayed defensive and held strong under pressure.
CB: Matthijs de Ligt – 7/10 – An early scare from Mateta but recovered quickly. He proved to be a real threat attacking corners.
CB: Lisandro Martinez – 7/10 – Composed and relaxed in everything he did, without the need to get out of second gear.
LB: Diogo Dalot – 8/10 – He played a reversed role in midfield and pulled the strings with great ease.
DM: Christian Eriksen – 7/10 – He sprinkled in some nice passes but hardly needed to get out of second.
DM: Kobbie Mainoo – 7/10 – In the Mainoo vs Wharton battle, young United came out on top with ease.
RM: Amad Diallo – 7/10 – He made many smart runs but found himself in a tough battle with Mitchell.
AM: Bruno Fernandes – 7/10 – Involved in almost everything positive, picking some lovely passes behind the Palace backline.
LM: Alejandro Garnacho – 7/10 – An absolute threat who should have had at least a goal or two. Excellent races.
ST: Joshua Zirkzee – 7/10 – He dropped deep to help feed forward passes to Garnacho and Amad. A selfless act.
Substitutes
SUB: Marcus Rashford (61′ for Zirkzee) – 6/10
SUB: Manuel Ugarte (76′ for Eriksen) – 6/10
SUB: Rasmus Hojlund (76′ for Amad) – 6/10
Subs not used: Altay Bayindir (GK), Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans, Casemiro, Mason Mount, Antony
manager
Erik ten Hag – 7/10 – United were much better than this scoreline would suggest and comfortably deserved the win. However, questions will be asked about his decision to bench the in-form Rashford.
