Manchester United have moved from within one point of the fourth place with a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace. This keeps their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League alive.
Manchester United did not have to do a lot to win this game given the poor performance by Crystal Palace. The Red Devils opened the scoring in the 4th minute when Damien Delaney scored an own goal following a Darmian cross.
This put Manchester United firmly in control of the game as they created chances after chances. Only an excellent performance from the Crystal Palace goalkeeper, Julian Speroni prevented United from going further ahead.
Palace, on the other hand, were quite disappointing and failed to create any chances that would put United under pressure. The only occasion they created was when Zaha pass the ball to Chung-Yong, who in turn headed it into the path of Adebayor. The latter will miss the target with his shot. This was the only significant occasion created by Crystal Palace in a desperately poor game. The match reaches half-time with the score 1-0.
After the break, it would be Manchester United that would strike again first. Matteo Darmian will fire an impressive shot from 20 yards that would give the keeper no chance. This was his first goal for Manchester United ever since he signed for them from Torino.
Louis van Gaal was satisfied with the result even if the match failed to reach any sort of heights. He stated that he wanted the 3 points and that he is pleased that Manchester United registered the win. The manager added that the team now has to recover before their FA Cup semi-final against Everton.
The match was played in a relatively empty Old Trafford with fans keen to demonstrate their feelings about this season and the manager in general.