Manchester United close the gap on Fourth-placed Arsenal, who have one game in hand. Crystal Palace will still sit nine points clear of the drop not enough to grantee Premier League football next season.
Palace did not start off well with Damien Delaney netting an own goal provided by Matteo Darmian in the opening minutes. Just minutes after Martin Kelly picked up Palace’s first yellow card for a Foul on Anthony Martial. At this point the game was all united but Palace Legend Julian Speroni with his first appearance of the season kept them in it. Just before the break Pape Souaré received Palace’s second yellow. The standout star of the first half was by far Julian Speroni, with some fantastic saves he kept it at just 1-0 going into the break. Surely things would pick up from here for Palace? Just ten minutes into the second half Matteo Darmian slices a left footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left of the goal. 2-0 United. The game lost all energy at that point with Darmian getting booked United sat back. Palace couldn’t break through the strong United’s defence. James McArthur made his return to the first team after coming on for Yohan Cabaye in the 66’ minute. However, he was unable to encourage Palace back into the game. Full Time Manchester United 2-0 Crystal Palace.
Match Statistics
Final Score: Manchester United 2-0 Crystal Palace
Goals : Delaney (4' og), Darmian (55')
Shots: 16-5
Shots on Target: 10-0
Corners: 10-2
Fouls: 13-7
Yellow Cards: 1-2 (Darmian : Kelly, Souaré)
Red Cards: 0-0
Line-ups
| Manchester United | Crystal Palace |
| 1. de Gea | 1. Speroni |
| 25. A Valencia | 34. Kelly |
|
12. Smalling |
3. Mariappa |
| 17. Blind | 27. Delaney |
| 36. Darmian | 23. Souare |
| 28. Scheiderlin | 7. Cabaye |
| 35. Lingard | 15. Jedinak |
| 8. Mata | 11. Zaha |
| 10. Rooney | 14. Lee Chung-yong |
| 9. Martial | 26. Sako |
| 39. Rashford | 25. Adebayor |
Something On Our Minds?
With the FA Cup Semi-Final just around the corner, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see a weakened Palace side playing United. Pardew gave Speroni, Kelly, Mariappa, Lee Chung-yong and Sako all a start. Whilst we all knew Speroni was a fantastic keeper he proved it once more last night. A combination of lovely saves made us all wondering why he hadn’t started sooner. Of course Hennessey has done well this season he has produced a number of outstanding saves. However, there were a few times when we were all questioning Pardew’s decision to keep him in the team. Regardless Hennessey looks like the favourite to start at Wembley this weekend. Martin Kelly looked out of place last night along with the whole of Palace’s defence. Showed us why Joel Ward is the regular right back. Mariappa struggled with the lack of games and struggled with keeping up with United. Lee Chung-yong did as much as he could given the lack of chances though out the game. Sako didn’t do a thing last night apart from giving the ball to united. I felt there was a lack of confidence last night and that isn’t a good sign for a team in the semi-final of the FA Cup.