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Manchester United held to 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford

Manchester United have drawn 0-0 against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford. The home side couldn’t take advantage of their dominance early on, and couldn’t create any chances at the end.

 

Mourinho made a number of changes to the starting XI. The most prominent change was Romelu Lukaku returning to the side, as he came in for Marcus Rashford. In the midfield, Paul Pogba and Juan Mata replaced Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera, while Matteo Darmian was given a surprise start as he came in for the suspended Luke Shaw.  

 

First chance of the match fell to United early on. A Pogba long ball was headed down by Lukaku, and sat up perfectly for Lingard. He made good contact with the volley, but it was blocked away by a Palace defender.

 

United dominated the early stages of the contest, and controlled almost all of the possession. Matic played a long ball that found Martial in behind, but the inform Frenchman couldn’t bring down the looping pass on time, and the goalkeeper did well to come out and deal with the situation.

 

Palace began to find their footing in the game, having some decent spells of possession. Zaha found space on the wing, but his curler flew way over the bar.

 

The momentum of the game had really begun to switch at that point. Some poor defending from United lead to a number of turnovers. Zaha was able to have another go from distance, and this one was closer, but still rolled wide of the target.

 

The Red Devils had their best chance of the contest at the half hour mark, when a cross from Mata flew over Hennessy toward the backpost. It picked out an unmarked Smalling, but the centerback couldn’t convert and headed it wide from a few yards away.

 

The away side thought they had grabbed a late goal before the end of the half to snatch a lead, but saw it taken back by the sideline official. A ball was lobbed towards the back post, and Kouyate rose highest to head home. However, the Palace man was correctly called offside, and the goal was wiped off the board.

 

United almost took the lead mere minutes after the start of the second half. A cross from Young was deflected and flew towards the far post. It bounced inches away from the head of Lukaku, but still almost found its way towards the top corner.

 

It would be United who thought they took the lead at the hour mark, only to suffer the same fate as Palace did in the first half. A shot from Young was saved by Hennessy, but the rebound fell to Lukaku who tapped in from close range. The flag went up on the sideline, and the goal was called off, although replays later showed the call was probably the wrong one.

 

Mourinho made his a couple of changes soon after, with Fellaini and Rashford coming on for Lingard and Mata.

 

David De Gea then proved once again that he’s the best keeper on the planet. A long shot from Kouyate was headed toward the bottom corner, but De Gea was able to get across and make the save. The rebound fell to another Palace player, but De Gea sprang to his feet and made a second save to keep it 0-0.

 

United made their third and final change of the game with about 20 minutes to go, with Alexis Sanchez coming on for Paul Pogba.

 

The away side really should’ve taken the lead late on. After a few odd bounces, Townsend found himself through on goal. Luckily for United, he absolutely bottled it, hitting his shot off balance and well wide of the goal.

 

The end of the game resorted to Palace packing the middle of the penalty area and forcing United out wide. The only player that could get on the ball were Young and Darmian, but neither was whipping in any good crosses.

 

Game ended 0-0. Next game is against Young Boys in the Champions League.

 



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