Match Report: Three Things Learned from United’s Ponderous Draw at Palace

Manchester United are now four points off top spot in the Premier League after clawing on to a 0-0 draw against a dominant Crystal Palace side at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon. 

In his post match comments, Louis van Gaal admitted his side were second best and he also revealed his concerns with his team’s recent woes in front of goal. It has nearly been five hours since United last netted and they’ve now drawn their last three matches in all competitions.  

Given the amount of money that has been spent and the time he has been afforded to make progress, it’s fair to say that Van Gaal has been given a relatively easy time of it from the United fans, particularly compared to the speed at which they lost patience with David Moyes. However, that now looks on the brink of changing after the travelling supporters stayed behind after the match to voice their frustrations following yet another lacklustre performance.  

Palace, on the other hand, have never beaten United in the Premier League and Alan Pardew was understandably disappointed not to have made history on an afternoon where they created the clearer chances and deserved to come away with more than a point.  

Here are three observations learned by the WhoScored team: 

GAYLE PROVES SIZE DOESN'T MATTER

In the wake of the draw, Pardew revealed his side had set up to target Daley Blind’s small stature at the heart of United’s defence. This isn’t a groundbreaking tactic, although they way in which they achieved it was more than a surprise. With Connor Wickham still out injured, it was Dwight Gayle, who has found it hard to make an impression on Pardew, that was given the task of leading the Palace attack and the 25-year-old more than flourished.

The Palace striker, who is only stands at 5ft 8” tall, won at least three more aerial duels than any other player on display at Selhurst Park (7), having only won five in as many games leading up to this fixture. Gayle won as many headers as the entire United back-four that started combined, with Blind failing to win a single duel. 

The England striker also tested David de Gea with all three of his shots on target and should have done better with at least one of his efforts, but he failed to get the necessary contact to lob De Gea when the ball found its way through to him late into the first half.  

ROONEY NOT UP TO SCRATCH 

What makes Van Gaal’s stubbornness not to entertain to the idea of dropping his captain is that these are the kinds of big, ruthless decisions that bare the backbone to his successful career as a manager. Whether it was Rivaldo at Barcelona or Mark van Bommel at Bayern Munich, Van Gaal had no hesitance in pulling the trigger on a career of one of his most influential players on and off the field.  

However, bizarrely, despite appearing a shadow of his former self, Rooney continues to find his name in the starting XI. There was to be no change in fortunes for the United captain against Palace as he continued to flounder in front of goal with no shots on goal from open-play.  

Added to that, the United striker failed to register a single key pass, nor did he complete a one dribble. He was also dispossessed more times than any other player (2) and failed to have any touches in the opposition’s penalty area. Only Matteo Darmian (6.2) garnered a lower WhoScored rating of all 22 players to start the game than Rooney (6.3).

ROJO FINALLY LOOKS A UNITED PLAYER

In some ways, Marcos Rojo is fortunate to still be at the club. There was little evidence from his debut season to suggest he would figure prominently in Van Gaal’s plans going forward and then during the summer the club tried to use him as a makeweight in the deal to sign Anthony Martial after having a bust up with the United manager after missing his flight to join their pre-season tour.

However, the Argentina international has proven a more than capable stand in for the injured Luke Shaw and his performance on the whole up against a the speed and flair of Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha only improved his reputation in the United squad.

The versatile defender picked up the WhoScored man of the match (7.9 rating) on an afternoon where it was the United backline that were by far the busier. Up against the aforementioned duo, Rojo completed at least three more tackles than any other player (6), and only Blind (4) chipped in with more interceptions. Added to that, only Chris Smalling (6) made more clearances than the former Sporting Lisbon defender (5), and impressively, Rojo only conceded one foul.

Many thought that Shaw’s absence would cause United some real problems in defence, but Rojo has come in and maintained their defensive solidity. In fact, only Martial (7.56) has garnered a higher WhoScored rating than Rojo (7.54) in the Premier League this season.

United’s problems, however, are very much still up the other end of the pitch.

For more stats on United's draw at Palace, click here to visit the WhoScored match centre