Manchester United were held to a frustrating goalless draw away at Crystal Palace as Erik ten Hag's attack failed to fire again, despite 24 shots in total and a brilliant display from both goalkeepers.
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Ten Hag's side were hammered 4-0 in this exact fixture last season, and the United manager will have again been disappointed at the draw on Saturday.
Alejandro Garnacho was denied by the woodwork after 27 minutes, with the same outcome following for Bruno Fernandes on the rebound, as United squandered numerous opportunities in a one-sided first half.
Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson frustrated his former side throughout, though Oliver Glasner's Palace team could have snatched victory if not for missed second-half chances from Ismaila Sarr, denied by Onana's wonderful double-save, and Eberechi Eze.
The result leaves Palace in 16th, two points clear of the bottom three, while United are 11th.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 |
Brighton
BHA
|
33 | 0 | 48 |
| 11 |
Brentford
BRE
|
33 | +6 | 46 |
| 12 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
34 | -4 | 45 |
| 13 |
Everton
EVE
|
33 | -6 | 38 |
| 14 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
33 | -8 | 38 |
| 15 |
Wolves
WOL
|
33 | -13 | 38 |
| 16 |
Spurs
TOT
|
33 | +10 | 37 |
How the match unfolded
Buoyed by their midweek EFL Cup 7-0thrashing of Barnsley, United controlled the opening period without reward as Garnacho and Matthijs de Ligt forced impressive early stops from Henderson.
Garnacho's curling effort was denied by the woodwork after Diogo Dalot's incisive pass before the half-hour mark, with Fernandes cannoning his follow-up attempt off the top of the crossbar.
Fernandes went close again after the interval, curling narrowly wide of the top-left corner before Garnacho's hopeful shot from the left forced another smart Henderson stop.
Andre Onana was required at the other end to keep the visitors level, however, pushing away Eddie Nketiah's rasping drive before denying Sarr at full-stretch with a wonderful save that stunned the watching crowd.
Eze squandered a glorious chance with 18 minutes remaining, shooting wide with the goal at his mercy from Sarr's cutback pass, as Palace's wait for their first win of the season continued.
Solid between the sticks 🧤
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 21, 2024
Crucial stops from both goalkeepers to keep a clean sheet each 😤 pic.twitter.com/kj3un0Yqj8
Struggling start continues for Glasner
Glasner appeared to have transformed Palace's fortunes after replacing Roy Hodgson, winning six of the final seven league games last season.
That form has not followed into this season, however, with Palace's struggling attack missing the influence of star winger Michael Olise after his move to Bayern Munich.
Eze and Jean-Phillipe Mateta remain from last term's deadly attacking trio, and the England midfielder almost netted before the break when directing straight at Onana from Tyrick Mitchell's cutback.
Glasner searched for solutions at half-time, replacing the ineffective Mateta with Sarr, who immediately linked up well with Eze to provide some home excitement.
Sarr should have opened the scoring just past the hour, racing in from Nketiah's saved attempt but failed to beat the onrushing Onana from point-blank range.
The Palace winger looked to make amends for that missed opportunity, leaving two United defenders on the floor before sliding back for Eze, who guided a right-footed finish wide of the bottom-right corner under little pressure.
Glasner must find a way for Palace to improve in front of goal if they are to move away from the lower part of the table, with their next match coming away to struggling Everton.
United lack clinical edge
Goals remain the problem for Ten Hag, with United finding the net just five times this season – only Palace (four), Ipswich Town (three) and Southampton (two) have scored fewer among teams to have played five games in the competition.
That issue does not come from struggling to create chances, with Christian Eriksen twice finding De Ligt from set-piece situations at Selhurst Park, only to be thwarted by the one-man wall of Henderson.
De Ligt's centre-back partner Lisandro Martinez almost squirmed another chance under the desperate dive of the Palace goalkeeper, who also foiled Garnacho with a fine save early on.
Joshua Zirkzee was brought in from Bologna to turn around United's attacking output, though the forward headed wide and then prodded a stretching finish at Henderson following Fernandes' cross in the opening half.
Ever-reliant Fernandes almost broke the deadlock after linking up with Zirkzee, but – in a familiar tale for United – failed to find the top-left corner with an outside-of-the-boot finish from the perimeter of the box.
Marcus Rashford's introduction did little to improve the attacking penetration, an aspect which Ten Hag will be desperate to improve in United's next league fixture at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
Club reports
Palace report | Man Utd report
Next Premier League fixtures
What the managers said
Oliver Glasner: "Dean Henderson kept us alive and in the first half we have never played like this."
Erik ten Hag: "When we don’t win, I’m not content. We should have won. First half, we ate them alive. Then in the second half, it was more in the balance but first half, we should have scored one or two goals."
Key facts
This was just the fourth goalless draw United have played out under Erik ten Hag in the Premier League (81 games), and first since drawing 0-0 with Liverpool in December 2023.
Palace haven’t won any of their first five games in the Premier League this season (D3 L2), the fifth time they’ve failed to do so in a single campaign in the competition. The Eagles have been relegated on three of the previous four occasions when failing to win any of their first five (1992/93, 1994/95 and 2004/05).
Of teams they’ve faced more than 10 times in the Premier League, United have drawn 0-0 in a higher percentage of their games versus Crystal Palace than against any other opponent in the competition (16 per cent or five out of 31).