Off the back of their statement win in the Manchester Derby, Manchester United travelled south on Wednesday night to face an out-of-sorts Crystal Palace side.
Since the Premier League’s post-World Cup resumption, the two sides could hardly be in more contrasting form; United entered the game with seven consecutive wins across three competitions whilst Palace had lost their previous five.
The Red Devils made a strong start to the game and had the better of the early chances through Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, and Anthony all in the opening 20 minutes, but the game remained goalless.
Patrick Vieira’s men then came close to an opener, but a fingertip save from David De Gea saw Odsonne Edouard’s long-range effort tipped onto the bar, and for the home fans that was really the highlight of a dull first half.
The hosts looked as if they had stifled United’s efforts to claim a first-half advantage, however just minutes before the break Christian Eriksen played a clever ball into Bruno Fernandes before the Portuguese fired a well-hit strike into the net.
In credit to Vieira, Palace emerged a different side in the second half, attacking with more purpose and subsequently forcing De Gea into saves on several occasions, but the points still looked to be heading to Old Trafford.
But with 90 minutes already on the clock, the home crowd were finally given something to celebrate as Michael Olise’s goal of the season contender free kick sailed past David De Gea to rescue a point for the hosts.
Certainly, on the balance of the game, Vieira will have left Selhurst Park the happier of the two managers, especially since Eric ten Haag is now without Casemiro, who picked up his fifth booking of the season and will miss this weekend’s trip to table-toppers Arsenal.
In a thrilling climax, the Red Devils were robbed as the Eagles swooped in to steal a point, however as we’ve so often seen, that’s just the nature of Premier League football.
