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Manchester United produced a poor performance in front of goal as they were held to a goalless draw away at Crystal Palace despite their clear dominance throughout the match.
Coming off of a 7-0 thrashing of Barnsley, Man United were in a prime position to strike against a struggling Palace side that is sitting in 17th place with just two points in five games, their worst start to a Premier League season in seven years.
In the first minute, Matthijs de Ligt was clipped from behind by Palace striker Jean-Phillipe Mateta. While anxiety built as De Ligt signalled to the bench, relief came as it emerged that he simply needed a chance to change his boots.
Following a dry opening 10 minutes, the match sparked to life courtesy of Alejandro Garnacho, who zoomed into the box from the wing and took a shot at the far post that Dean Henderson tipped out for a corner.
In the 13th minute, United almost scored from a corner. Christian Eriksen drilled in a deadly cross, with De Ligt hammering in a header from close range that the Palace defence were fortunate to be well-positioned to block.
27 minutes in, United would have been bamboozled as to how they did not go ahead. Garnacho curled a shot at the far post that bounced off the bar, with the rebound falling to Bruno Fernandes, whose lobbed effort skidded off the crossbar as well.
After half an hour of play, Zirkzee rose above the Palace defence as the corner came in. However, his header veered wide. It appeared as if the Dutch forward was still struggling to find his form with his new team.
Four minutes from the break, Fernandes drilled in a through ball to Zirkzee, whose shot was tipped past the far post by Henderson. Even with 10 shots to zero from Palace and 71% possession, United were still unable to break the deadlock.
In the 44th minute, Palace got their first shot of the game, coming close to scoring. Eberechi Eze was perfectly positioned to strike from the edge of the box, however, his grounded shot was stopped by Andre Onana.
After a minute of stoppage time, the match remained goalless. As his players made their way down the tunnel, Erik ten Hag would have surely been strategising ways for his team to make the most of all their dominance and ultimately find the back of the net.
Four minutes after the break, Amad came close to scoring, cutting inside from the left and curling a in a shot that came close to finding the top left corner of the net.
Minutes later, Fernandes fired a shot wide, adding to the enormous stack of chances that United have failed to convert. The lack of firepower up front was truly a cause for concern up until that point, especially given how one-sided proceedings had been.
Past the hour mark, United continued applying pressure to the Palace defence. Garnacho struck a promising shot from a distance. However, the resolute Palace keeper tipped the ball over the bar.
Joshua Zirkzee’s evening came to an end as he was replaced by Marcus Rashford, who had recently rediscovered his form after a prolonged period of poor performances.
In the 65th minute, it was the home side who almost broke the deadlock. Eddie Nketiah fired a shot at the bottom corner, which Onana superbly saved. While Ismaïla Sarr pounced on the rebound, Onana did brilliantly to rise to his feet and deny Palace the breakthrough.
23 minutes from time, United players appealed to the ref for a penalty as Sarr appeared to handle the ball in the box off of an Eriksen cross. Ultimately, the VAR officials saw no reason to award a spot kick. United had to find another way to break through the Palace defence in order to finally score.
In the 72nd minute, United fans held their breath as Eze took a one-touch shot that skidded past the near post. United clearly needed to improve their focus in order to maintain a grip on the game.
With 15 minutes to go, Rasmus Hojlund came on for Amad, marking his first appearance this season after recovering from his injury. New midfield signing Manuel Ugarte replaced Eriksen, giving the Uruguayan an opportunity to show his worth in the final stages of the match.
The home side stepped up the pressure in stoppage time, winning a corner after firing in some dangerous passes into the box. Fortunately, Onana was able to get a hand on the incoming corner kick, swiping the ball out of danger.
It was a disappointing match for United, with the referee bringing an end to proceedings without a goal being scored despite all of the away side’s dominance. Erik ten Hag will need to improve his team’s goalscoring ability after this disappointing result.
Starting XI: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Fernandes, Zirkzee, Eriksen, Amad, Garnacho, Dalot, Mainoo
Subs: Rashford, Hojlund, Ugarte
Feature image Harriet Lander via Getty Images
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2024-09-21 18:25:52
