Manchester United travelled to London to take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday night looking to climb over Liverpool into second place in the Premier League table. The Eagles began the match on the front foot and were rewarded for their positive approach in the 11th minute when Andros Townsend scored, after his goal-bound shot was deflected into the net. The home side fought hard to go into the half-time with a 1-0 advantage.
Roy Hodgson’s men started the second half in electrifying fashion and doubled their lead in the 47th minute courtesy of a Patrick Van Aanholt finish from close range. However, the Red Devils immediately found a response through Chris Smalling’s header just seven minutes later.
United drew level in the contest when Romelu Lukaku scored the all-important equaliser after some clever footwork inside the Eagles penalty box. The Red Devils completed the comeback and found the winner in injury-time through Nemanja Matic’s long-range shot and ended up winning the contest with a 3-2 scoreline.
Let’s take a look at how each Manchester United player fared on the night.
GK: David De Gea – 6/10
The Spaniard was left helpless while conceding the opening goal of the match after Andros Townsend’s shot took a huge deflection and nestled into the top corner of his goal. He couldn’t do much about their second goal as well but pulled off a world-class save in the final quarter of the game to deny Benteke’s goal-bound header.
RB: Antonio Valencia – 7/10
He was a great outlet for United down the right flank and put in a brilliant ball into the box which led to the Chris Smalling goal.
CB: Chris Smalling – 7/10
He struggled in the first-half but did well to put in a strong shift after the break. The English defender scored with a terrific header which began the United comeback.
CB: Victor Lindelöf – 4/10
He found it hard to deal with Andros Townsend’s pace and Christian Benteke’s aerial dominance. He had a game to forget in the heart of the United defence.
LB: Ashley Young – 6/10
He tried his best to cause problems going forward but had a mediocre game for the Red Devils.
CM: Scott McTominay – 5/10
He found it hard to cope with the Palace attackers and struggled to make an impact at the centre of the park.
CM: Nemanja Matic – 9/10
He did all the dirty work in midfield and passed the ball well to launch some of the United attacks. He ended up being Manchester United’s unlikely hero when he popped up with the winning goal of the game, deep in stoppage time.
CM: Paul Pogba – 5/10
The Frenchman failed to have an impact in the opposition half but did manage to get some shots in from long range.
RW: Jesse Lingard – 6/10
He had a quiet game for the visitors and found it hard to conjure up anything meaningful in the final third.
ST: Romelu Lukaku – 8/10
The Belgian began the United comeback by scoring the crucial equaliser after some clever footwork inside the Palace box.
LW: Alexis Sánchez – 6/10
The Chilean winger had a few cracks at goal but was unable to make an impact in the final third.
Substitutes:
ST: Marcus Rashford – 8/10
He was superb after coming off the bench at half-time and was a constant threat in the second half.
CAM: Juan Mata – 7/10
The Spaniard had an immediate impact after coming on and made some smart runs into the Palace box.
LM: Luke Shaw – 6/10
Not as impactful as the other substitutes, he did enough to see his team bag all three points on the night.
