Manchester United produced a commendable performance to defeat Crystal Palace 2-0 at the Theatre of Dreams. Delaney’s own-goal in the 4th minute gave United the lead and then Darmian doubled the lead with a brilliant goal in the 55th minute.
This win keeps United in hunt for a top four birth as they have 1 point less than Arsenal, who have a game in hand and 2 points less than Manchester City.
Here are the player ratings for the match.
Manchester United
David de Gea – 5/10
The Spanish goalkeeper had literally nothing to do during the entire duration of the game as none of Palace’s shots were on target.
Antonio Valencia – 7/10
The Ecuadorian impressed with his attacking prowess but looked a bit weak defensively. He continuously overlapped Lingard on the right side, causing a lot of trouble to Souare. He also played in quite a few good crosses.
Chris Smalling – 7/10
Smalling did not give Adebayor much of a breathing space and even over-muscled him on few occasions. All in all, it was a rather convincing performance from the centre-back.
Daley Blind – 6.5/10
Blind did well to hold on to the clean sheet. He is finally looking comfortable in the centre back role after some dismal performances in the last month.
Matteo Darmian – 7.5/10
Placed on the left side of the defence, the Italian had to face a lot of trouble from Zaha initially, however, his work-rate going forward was impressive as his cross led to Delaney’s own-goal. Later, in the second-half, Darmian scored a brilliant goal from just inside the box to beat Speroni, who was brilliant on the day.
Morgan Schneiderlin – 7/10
Schneiderlin was the lone defensive midfielder for United in a 4-1-4-1. He held his ground and did not allow the Palace midfield of Cabaye and Jedinak to dominate the proceedings.
Juan Mata – 7.5/10
The Spaniard started in the middle, alongside Wayne Rooney and showed Louis van Gaal how menacing he can be when allowed to play in his favoured position. He was given more of a free role as he opened the Palace defence with his intelligent passes and through balls.
Wayne Rooney – 7.5/10
The captain pulled the strings from the center of the field and sprayed a lot of long passes, opening Palace’s defence. He did not shy away from taking a shot or two at the goal as well. Rooney looked calm and composed on the ball and was taken off for Fellaini, keeping in mind that United play the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday.
Jesse Lingard – 6.5/10
Lingard switched positions with Juan Mata all-night, who was initially made to play in his favoured central position. He linked up well with Martial and Rashford, however, the United academy graduate was denied by Speroni minutes before he was taken off for Ander Herrera.
Anthony Martial – 8/10
The Frenchman, placed on the left of the attack again, tormented the Palace defence with his trickery on the ball. Martial deserved a goal after such brilliant performance but he was denied twice by Speroni.
Marcus Rashford – 7/10
Rashford looked lively yet again and never looked shy from engaging defenders and running into them. He was unlucky to be denied by a brilliant save from Speroni just before being taken off for Memphis.
Substitutes:
Memphis – 5.5/10
Memphis came on for Marcus Rashford in the 64th minute. Like always, the winger tried to impress the but often fell short of the final touch or the final pass.
Ander Herrera – 6/10
Herrera came on for Jesse Lingard in the 73rd minute. He was clever on the ball and played some good passes forward.
Marouane Fellaini – 5/10
Fellaini came on for Rooney in the 78th minute.
Crystal Palace
Julian Speroni – 7.5/10
Speroni, who looked unbeatable at times was unlucky to be beaten by his own defender early on and then by a sumptuous Darmian strike. He made an excellent save to deny Martial late in the first half and then denied Rashford and Lingard with two brilliant back-to-back saves in the second half.
Martin Kelly – 4/10
The former Liverpool man had a miserable night as Anthony Martial completely dominated him with his menacing runs.
Adrian Mariappa – 5/10
Mariappa was made to sweat by Martial and Rashford for the majority of the contest. He was also not helped by his partner who scored an own-goal.
Damien Delaney – 4/10
Delaney kicked the ball in his own net in an attempt to clear Darmian’s cross in the initial stages of the match. His performance was below par as well to cap off a miserable day.
Pape Ndiaye Souare – 4/10
Souare was troubled a lot by Valencia’s pacy forward runs. He also picked up a yellow card late in the first-half.
Yohan Cabaye – 5/10
Cabaye had a miserable night and was nowhere near his best. After coming back to England from PSG, the Frenchman instantly impressed everyone but lost a bit of fizzle as the league progressed. He was taken off for James McArthur in the 66th minute.
Mile Jedinak – 5.5/10
Jedinak was his usual calm self in the midfield. However, he was not able to stop Rooney and Schneiderlin from completely dominating the midfield.
Wilfried Zaha – 6/10
Zaha looked threatening from the word go against his former team but was not able to keep the tempo going in the second half of the match.
Chung-Yong Lee – 5/10
Lee, who was playing his first match since February lost the ball on some crucial occasions and was taken off for Jordan Mutch in the 60th minute.
Bakary Sako – 5/10
Sako was lively in the first half but failed to keep his composure and lost the ball quite a few times.
Emmanuel Adebayor – 4.5/10
Adebayor was mostly kept out of the game by Chris Smalling and also suffered due to the lack of delivery from his teammates.
Substitutes:
Jordan Mutch – 4.5/10
Mutch came on for Lee in the 60th minute but failed to cause any sort of trouble to the United defence.
James McArthur – 4.5/10
McArthur came on for Cabaye in the 66th minute. He did not see much of the ball as United kept high-line and the possession as well.
Connor Wickham – N/A
Wickham was brought on for Adebayor in the 75th minute of the match.
