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Crystal Palace hosted Manchester United and from the set up you'd know they want to restrict United to few chances by being compacted. They knew United always struggle to break down opposition that tends to defend so deep and it worked to perfection in the first half.
The game has been known to be a tough one because Palace always play tightly and United haven't lost on the road for many games now.
The first half was a game of few chances, both missed and goalkeeper's magic save. Roy Hodgson always set up his team to frustrate opponents and limit their chances while they pounce on counter-attacks. United started slowly as usual but their passes were not as fast as you would have expected. The two holding midfielders United used should have been one and they would have given more room for creativity upfront.
In the 7th minute, Townsend found Benteke at the centre of the box with a lovely cross but Benteke fluffed his lines when his right-footed shot went high. In the 13th, Fernandes set up Nemanja Matic at the edge of the box and his shot got a deflection and it was heading for the top corner if not for the heroics of the goalkeeper in keeping it out. Not too long after, Cavani had another effort in the box go over the bar.
In the 16th minute, Rashford was found in the box by Luke Shaw and despite creating the space for himself, he flashed his shot just wide. That was a golden chance missed.
Rashford found Cavani with a lovely cross in the 27th minute but Cavani could only head high and wide.
In the 43rd minute, Fred won a ball and found Aaron Wan Bissaka. He wasted no chance and he flashed a ball into the box. The ball was destined to find Edison Cavani but for the timely intervention of Ward, he warded off the threat for a corner kick. What a goal that would have been.
The first half ended and there was nothing to separate the two sides. Palace started piling up the pressure when Benteke brilliantly held off Maguire. He laid a pass to Ayew who unleashed a lovely shot but Henderson held firmly all firm in the 51st minute.
Fred gave a freekick away in the 57th minute and the wall blocked it but the rebound fell to Townsend whose effort went just marginally off. What a goal that would have been.
In the 74th minute, McTominay was played in and wasted too much time to decide what to do. Shortly after too, James' header in the box got deflected for a corner. United doing everything at this point not to go into the Manchester derby with a 14 points gap.
In the 81st minute, Mason Greenwood had a curling effort aimed at the far corner but it was a bit too high. He scored 17 goals last season but has only managed 4 so far this season.
Palace should have won the game in the 90th minute when Van Aanholt was played through but Henderson's leg saved the day. United played terribly and posed no threat whatsoever to Palace and Palace's game plan worked to perfection and the game ended 0-0.
United trails City by a mountain 14 points and as it is, the title is close to being over. A defeat for United in the derby match against City would mean 17 points and a win would close the gap to 11 points but the pressure is now on United to win rather than on City.
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