MATCH REVIEW - CRYSTAL PALACE v MANCHESTER UNITED

-By Varun Sangwan and Hitanshu Samantray

MATCH STATS

TALKING POINTS

It was a very slow start to the game with neither team really getting in between the lines and giving their front-men any chances. Palace threatened a couple of times drawing saves from David De Gea who was certainly the busier of the two keepers in the first half. However quick one touch passing right at the end of the first half from Manchester United ended up being the key to unlocking the eagles' defense with Marcus Rashford finishing coolly into the bottom right hand corner after faking his shot a couple of times. 

The second half did see some early action with both teams threatening again and again. VAR played a crucial role again as Jordan Ayew was ruled offside by a fraction from a good ball by Wilfred Zaha. Many chances were created with Manchester United trying to thread the defense with one touch passing which saw Bruno Fernandes hit the post from one such move. The same fast passing allowed Anthony Martial to score brilliantly and sealing the points for the red Devils. Patrick Van Aanholt suffered an unfortunate injury and had to be stretchered off. At the closing stages De Gea denied Wilfred Zaha brilliantly and sealed another clean sheet for himself making him level with Peter Schmiechel. 

TACTICS REVIEW

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer dropped a major surprise in the team selection with Timothy Fosu Mensah returning to start the game for a long long time. Nemanja Matic was rested with Scott McTominay coming in his place.. On the bench injury to Brandon Williams meant Diogo Dalot was included in the main XX with Jesse Lingard also replacing Andreas Pereira. Mason Greenwood was also deemed fit to play after being a doubt for today's clash.

The  formation stayed the same - Solskjaer's mainly used 4-2-3-1. The team that lined up against the Eagles was : 

Bench : Sergio Romero , Eric Bailly , Diogo Dalot , Fred , Nemanja Matic , Jesse Lingard ,                  Juan Mata , Odion Ighalo , Daniel James

PLAYER RATINGS

PS : Our player ratings are relative to the best player on the pitch, so the man of the match will maybe always get a 10

GK : DAVID DE GEA  - 9.5

Made some key stops today and looked to gain confidence everytime he saved these shots, as he was the busier of the keepers in the first half. Good performance...

LB : TIMOTHY FOSU MENSAH - 5.5

Maybe shouldn't have started. He didnt make any good overlapping runs and rally didnt do much throughout the game

CB : HARRY MAGUIRE - 7.5

Looked solid at the back and did well. Could have scored a couple of goals with decent deliveries into the box from Bruno Fernandes were headed wide by him. 

CB : VICTOR LINDELOF - 8

Solid performance from him. Kept Zaha in check

RB: AARON WAN BISSAKA - 6.5

Solid defensively as always. Really didnt have much to do. 

CM : SCOTT MCTOMINAY - 9

This guy is everywhere. A true box to box midfielder and the true heir to Ander Herrera, he covered ever blade of grass. Literally the engine of the team making important blocks, interceptions and passes. Ran the midfield today

CM : PAUL POGBA - 7.5

A little anonymous today, played fairly deep. As always makes those long passes stick.  

CAM : BRUNO FERNANDES  -  8.5

This guy is special. He has solved our problem of not being able to break down defensive low blocks. 

LW: MARCUS RASHFORD - 9

Inspiration from him provided us a lead. Looked real sharp and finally has discovered some form. 

RW: MASON GREENWOOD - 5.5

Not his night . Never gave up but was playing through an injury and maybe should have sat this one out. 

ST : ANTHONY MARTIAL - 9

Took his goal well again. Keeping Rashford in check on top of the Goal Charts 

HITANSHU'S VERDICT

United were not at their A-game coming into this one, receding too much possession and space to Palace in the first 12 minutes, but slowly started to get in the game and get forward. Lovely goal from Rashford, great composure. Pogba and Fernandes clearly looked tired as fatigue kicked in from the games, as we saw Pogba concede possession cheaply a few times and Bruno giving away the ball at times, and yet Bruno got an assist and Pogba had a good game. Martial definitely has shushed his doubters who questioned his work rate and has been putting in some impressive performances and is slowly becoming that No. 9 we need dynamic enough to interchange with our wingers. David De Gea deserves huge credit to keep a clean sheet with 5 saves with 2/3 showing glimpses of his old self To sum it up, we weren't at our best but were still able to grind out a 2-0 result... It's massive for us and we've to keep going forward in this direction 19 unbeaten and on we go chasing that Top Four

VARUN'S VERDICT

This was a tactical match from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer not too many chances created yet it was still enough to seal the three points with goals from Martial and Rashford both of whom are in fine form right now keeping check on each other with the amount of goals scored, both extending their goal tallies to 22 for the season.

It was some game from Bruno , at the heart of both goals yet again and showing why he has changed United so much and why the Red Devils are to be feared. McTominay put in his usual workhorse performance with him being literally everywhere dictating the midfield. Also shoutout to Viktor Lindelof who played really well in my opinion making key blocks and tackles and keeping Zaha in check. De Gea was in top top form for us making crucial saves with my personal favourite being the save from Zaha near the end of regulation time. 

A much needed win this for keeping our top 4 hopes in our own hands and not having to depend on other teams, I was particularly pleased with getting this over the line...

MAN OF THE MATCH

DAVID DE GEA : Looked like what we were so used to seeing before , back when he was still at his best. He make some crucial saves today mainly that freekick from Milivojevic and a classic De Gea stop with his feet from Wilfred Zaha at the closing stages of the game.