A shot-stopping masterclass from Dean Henderson helped Crystal Palace earn a 0-0 draw against Manchester United at Selhurst Park.
The visitors dominated the match from start to finish but couldn’t find the back of the net as the Eagles goalkeeper made six huge saves against his former club.
Manager Erik ten Hag will be hugely disappointed not to walk with all three points, with the result leaving Manchester United 11th in the Premier League table.
Crystal Palace are still yet to win a league match so far this season, with three draws and two losses in their opening five matches.
Embed from Getty ImagesAs it happened
Fresh off the back of a midweek 7-0 demolition of Barnsley in the Carabao Cup, Manchester United travelled to Selhurst Park hoping to continue where they left off. Marcus Rashford scored a brace at Old Trafford on Tuesday night but was dropped to the bench for this evening’s clash. Palace too advanced to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup during the week, beating Queens Park Rangers 2-1.
The visiting Red Devils started the game extremely brightly, with four shots on target inside the opening 15 minutes. Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson put in a heroic performance early on to keep the scoreline level, stopping everything that came his way.
Embed from Getty ImagesEnjoying themselves and dominating possession, United created another opportunity as the game approached the half-hour mark, but Alejandro Garnacho’s benching strike crashed against the woodwork. The ball ricocheted into the path of Bruno Fernandes but his effort met the same fate, skimming over the top of the crossbar and out for a goal-kick.
Former United ‘keeper Henderson was there once again to produce yet another save, this time a fingertip stop to deny Joshua Zirkzee the opening goal. Down the other end of the pitch and on the stroke of half-time, Palace had their first shot of the match, a glorious opportunity for Eberechi Eze, but his attempt fell comfortably into the hands of André Onana.
It may have been 0-0 at the break but the stats were overwhelmingly in Manchester United’s favour, with the Red Devils nothing up an impressive nine shots and 67% possession. A mixture of poor finishing in the final third and top-notch saves from Henderson kept Glasner’s side in the match, and more creativity and stability was much needed in the second half for Palace.
Adam Wharton and Jean-Philippe Mateta were taken off at half-time, with the Eagles boss turning to Jefferson Lerma and Ismaïla Sarr in search of a change in performance.
The first big chance of the second half fell to the home side, and it was Onana’s turn to produce some shot-stopping magic. After saving Eddie Nketiah’s low effort, his quick reflexes saw him shoot straight up to deny Sarr from finishing the follow-up and produce a world-class double save.
Embed from Getty ImagesNot long after, Crystal Palace came agonisingly close to an opener once again as Sarr worked the ball down the right-hand side before cutting it back to Eze, but his strike fell just wide of the post.
Both teams probed for a winner throughout the final 15 minutes, but nothing came from the many half-chances at either end of the pitch and the points were shared in a wonderfully entertaining ‘bore draw’.
The lineups
CRY: Henderson; Lacroix, Guéhi, Richards; Muñoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Eze; Nketiah, Mateta
MUN: Onana; Mazraoui, de Ligt, Martínez, Dalot; Mainoo, Eriksen; Diallo, Fernandes, Garnacho; Zirkzee
