The lowdown on Crystal Palace 0 Manchester United 0 – Dean Henderson and Andre Onana both make vital saves in goalless draw

Crystal Palace played out a goalless draw against Manchester United on Saturday evening.

Both sides had great chances to win all three points, with the Red Devils by far the better side in the first half.

Eberechi Eze, Eddie Nketiah and Ismaila Sarr all forced great saves from Andre Onana in the second half.

Here is Edmund Brack’s lowdown from Selhurst Park:

THE LINE-UPS

Palace XI: Henderson; Munoz, Richards, Guehi, Lacroix, Mitchell, Wharton (Lerma 45), Kamada, Nketiah (Hughes 66), Eze (Schlupp 90), Mateta (Sarr 45).

Subs not used: Turner, Ward, Clyne, Umeh, Agbinone.

Man Utd XI: Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Dalot; Eriksen (Ugarte 76), Mainoo; Diallo (Hojlund 76), Fernandes, Garnacho; Zirkzee (Rashford 60).

Subs not used: Bayindir, Maguire, Evans, Casemiro, Mount, Antony.

SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME

United had the better chances in the opening exchange of the game – Matthijs de Ligt causing problems from two set-piece situations.

The visitors then hit the crossbar in quick succession before the half-hour mark, with Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes both having efforts from inside the area denied by the woodwork.

Palace should have taken the lead in the 64th minute, but a brilliant double save from Andre Onana denied Eddie Nketiah and Ismaila Sarr on the follow-up.

United’s intensity disappeared for the final 20 minutes, and Palace grew in confidence – but neither side could find the winner and shared the points.

TACTICAL APPROACH

Oliver Glasner kept with the same formation he has used throughout his entirety as Crystal Palace boss, with Marc Guehi starting as the central centre-back in a five-man defence.

Daichi Kamada started alongside Adam Wharton – a midfield duo that raised eyebrows due to the lack of physical presence after Cheick Doucoure’s injury.

However, Japanese summer signing Kamada showed up well in the middle and did a good job on containing Fernandes and winning the ball back for his side.

Eze and Nketiah started as the attackers behind Jean-Philippe Mateta.

But the Austrian boss changed Palace’s approach at half-time, with Wharton and Mateta coming off for Jefferson Lerma and Ismaila Sarr, with the former Watford attacker leading the line.

BEST MOMENT

Onana’s double save. With United on top for most of the game, Palace had to take their chances when presented.

And most of Selhurst Park thought substitute Sarr had given the Eagles the lead in the 64th minute when he followed up on Nketiah’s shot, which had been palmed away by the United stopper but only in front of goal.

But Onana somehow got his body off the floor and flung his hands in the way of Sarr’s rebound to stop Palace from taking the lead.

STAR MAN

Dean Henderson. The Palace keeper made a handful of really smart stops to deny United throughout the match.

Former Man United stopper Henderson made seven saves to keep Palace’s clean sheet intact.

Henderson’s best moment came in the 62nd minute when Garnacho’s effort from the edge of the box looked destined for the top right-hand corner – but the England keeper was at full stretch to keep it out.

A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB

Wasteful Eze. The Greenwich-born attacker should have had a goal to his name on Saturday evening.

The former QPR man was presented with a great chance just before half-time when Eddie Nketiah drove forward and played through Tyrick Mitchell. 

The Palace left wing-back cut the ball back to Eze inside the area but he could only pass the ball into the hands of Andre Onana with a tame shot.

But his biggest guilt-edge chance came in the 71st minute when he linked up well with Sarr inside the United penalty area. The summer signing from Marseille set Eze up in line with the penalty area, but with no United player around him, he slammed his effort wide of Onana’s goal.

WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY

“The first half is not how we want to play – in any part of the game. Out of possession, in possession or set plays.

“We had some clear words at half-time, and we switched the mindset to play with more courage to make more runs in behind and go more directly to their goal.

“This is what the players did really well in the second half. We were much more compact and played more directly forward when we had the ball.

“We had 10 free-kicks in our half and we always played back to our keeper. We looked like we were too cautious – too scared of whatever.

“It was positive that we could switch this mindset, and we showed that we could do it much better in the second half.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD