Manchester United avoid huge upset

Crystal Palace 0 - 2 Manchester United (FT)

Manchester United travelled to Selhurst Park with the need for all 3 points. Earlier in the day, Leicester City had defeated Sheffield United and Chelsea beat Norwich City meaning a win was needed to keep pace with their rivals in the race for top 4.

The Reds started on the backfoot. Crystal Palace was tight in defence, playing mainly on the counter but also pushing forward and pressing when United tried to play from the back. In the first, half Palace were consatantly creating chances and threatening the opposition defence. Manchester United were fortunate not to be behind as the clock ticked down, nearing the end of the first half. Then, unexpectedly, Marcus Rashford opened the scoring for United. A simple through pass from Bruno Fernandes meant Rashford was left facing just the defender and the goalkeeper. He tricked them both by dragging back a fake shot and placing it into the opposite corner.

The second half saw Manchester United try to finish off the game to avoid any late slip-ups like the one that happened at Southampton. But again it was Crystal Palace imposing themselves and not backing down. Wilfred Zaha used a bit of magic to get past Wan-Bissaka and put a cross which was finished off by Ayew at the far pole. Crystal Palace celebrated but the joy was brought to an end as VAR disallowed the goal as Ayew was just an inch offside. For the rest of the game the Red Devils, slow and steady created chances. Most notable was a counter-attack initiated by Bruno Fernandes who also had the chance to finish it off but could only strike the post. 

But United did finally finish the game and it was Anthony Martial who helped them do so. A pass from Bruno Fernandes was directed to Anthony Martial with the help of Rashford(who claimed the assist) and the number 9 made no mistake, making a cool and routine finish. The game finished 0-2 United.

One concern today was the lack of aerial impact from the centre-backs. Maguire, who was the focal point of the aerial attacks, had numerous chance but all attempts were wide of the target. But on the other hand, a huge positive is hot form of United's front 3, who have scored and created numerous goals since the restart.

Next up for Manchester United is an exciting FA cup semi-final at Wembley!

Rashford cuts in and scores

Martial makes it 2-0