Match Facts
- Date – 20th April 2016
- Venue – Old Trafford
- Attendance – 75,277
- Referee – Lee Mason
- Bookings – Darmian, Kelly, Souare
- Goals – Delaney (4, OG), Darmian (55)
- Star Eagle – Julian Speroni/Wilfried Zaha (8.0)
Match Review
In an already tough trip to Old Trafford, Palace boss Alan Pardew had to content with worrying knocks to key players one game before a trip to Wembley.
While the Eagles are not mathematically safe, there was always going to be a decision to make in this fixture. After the excellent point at Arsenal, Palace missed the services of Wayne Hennessey, Joel Ward, Scott Dann, Joe Ledley and Yannick Bolasie.
The opposition perhaps had more to play for and it showed in front of their home crowd as United moved to within a point of Arsenal who currently occupy fourth place in the Premier League table after this straight forward two goal win.
The worst of starts saw Damien Delaney put the ball into the back of his own net by turning in a cross by the impressive full back Matteo Darmian.
It was a first start of the season for Argentine Julian Speroni and he looked far from rusty considering he has had no competitive action. The veteran keeper kept Palace in the game with several excellent stops but he could do nothing to prevent United scoring their second soon after the break as Darmian fired home from outside the area.
In fact, it could have got very messy if it was not for Speroni as he foiled United youngsters Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard.
‘I am disappointed to concede a goal like we did in the first six minutes. It was avoidable and took a bit of ambition out of us’ – Alan Pardew talking to BBC Sport.
While Speroni impressed, former United winger Wilfried Zaha did his best to provide what proved to be a very limited attacking threat out on the pitch with very little support. Others did very little to convince Pardew they deserved a starting spot at the weekend when you would expect the second string to step up and impress.
The fact that the visitors did not have one shot on target showed the dominance for United and how off the boil the Eagles were in this game.
However, there were two plus points to take from the result. Seventeen year old academy graduate Luke Dreher made his first appearance on the Palace bench (read more about Luke courtesy of Matt Woosnam) while there did not appear to be any fresh injury concerns expected ahead of the semi final on Sunday.
TEB Verdict
Perhaps this is a game where most will forgive a loss but the performance from what was essentially a second string out to prove their worth was disappointing. It was always going to be tough against a side at home chasing a top four spot while the Eagles clearly had one eye on the semi final at the weekend.
Player Ratings (courtesy of Who Scored)
- Julian Speroni (8.0) – Rolled back the years in the Argentines first start of the season.
- Martin Kelly (6.3) – Struggled up against the quality and pace of the hosts.
- Adrian Mariappa (7.4) – Solid showing for a player that has been watching on for so long.
- Damien Delaney (5.8) – Early own goal set the tone for the evening.
- Pape Souare (6.4) – Just like most of the back line, found it difficult to protect an overworked goalkeeper.
- Mile Jedinak (6.4) – Found it tough going in the middle of the park but that did not stop him putting in a shift.
- Yohan Cabaye (7.2) – Another good game for the Frenchman who oozes class when in form. Replaced by James McArthur (6.2) on 66 minutes whose return from injury is very welcome indeed.
- Wilfried Zaha (8.0) – Kept trying to work his magic out wide but did not receive enough support. Kept on trying though and gave the opposition defence something to think about.
- Bakary Sako (6.9) – Looked to stake a claim for a start at the weekend but did not impress as much as expected.
- Lee Chung-yong (5.9) – A first start in a while for the South Korean and it showed. Replaced by Jordon Mutch (6.2) on 60 minutes who struggled to get into the game with the game seemingly lost.
- Emmanuel Adebayor (5.7) – Rarely found himself in the box which is what is expected as the sole striker. Instead, found himself in the number ten role after being isolated. Replaced by Connor Wickham (6.0) on 75 minutes in what was only a chance to stretch his legs with no real opportunities falling to him.
Unused substitutes – Alex McCarthy, Luke Dreher, Jason Puncheon, Frazier Campbell
Match Statistics
The Who Scored man of the match was Matteo Darmian (8.4). Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford and Bakary Sako (3) had the most shots. Daley Blind (6) made the most tackles. Wilfried Zaha (9) made the most dribbles.
- Team rating: 7.16 – 6.60
- Total shots: 16 – 5
- Shots on target: 10 – 0
- Possession: 63.1% – 36.9%
- Pass success: 89% – 78%
- Dribbles: 11 – 13
- Aerials won: 9 – 9
- Tackles: 31 – 23
- Corners: 10 – 2
- Dispossessed: 17 – 21
Premier League Table
| 14 | West Bromwich Albion | 33 | 40 |
| 15 | Swansea City | 34 | 40 |
| 16 | Crystal Palace | 35 | 39 |
| 17 | Norwich City | 34 | 31 |
| 18 | Sunderland | 33 | 30 |
