Below-par Man United fire blanks at Selhurst Park

Manchester United were forced to settle for a goalless draw on a foggy night at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night. 

The match was devoid of clear-cut chances for long periods, with both teams managing just a shot on target. 

The hosts were the first to have sight of goal in the seventh minute as Andy Townsend sent in an in-swinger from a free-kick just outside the box, but Gary Cahill could not get to the end of it and Dean Henderson, starting in place of Davide de Gea, made a comfortable save. 

United then had a perfect chance to score the opener in the 13th minute, but Nemanja Matic’s shot, which took a deflection off a defender, was expertly saved by the goalie, who tipped it out wide. 

Rashforrd then lost a glorious chance to make it 1-0 after Luke Shaw found him inside the box with a crisp pass, but the striker horribly missed it, shooting inches wide. 

Solskjaer’s men upped the tempo as the first half wore on, and could have gone into the break leading only for good defending to deny them the chance. 

Fred and Wan-Bissaka played quick passes, with the latter’s low ball almost falling to Cavani, who was at the right place and ready to tuck it in, but Ward made a vital sliding block to save his team.

The second half was a carbon copy of the first, and it seemed as though the game would be decided by a moment of individual brilliance. 

Despite United coming close with half-chances late on, there was no goal as the two sides shared the spoils.

The draw saw Man United move to 51 points, one ahead of Leicester, who drew early on 1-1 away at Burnley.