Manchester United defeated Crystal Place 2-0 at Old Trafford on Wednesday. On a night when hundreds of United fans decided to give the match a miss due to the boring football and the lack of a title challenge, the Red Devils served up a display of sharp, entertaining attacking football.
In an impressive display at the Theatre of Dreams, Manchester United had sixteen shots on goal with ten of them being on target and looked way more menacing than in their last outing against Aston Villa.
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They went ahead in the 6th minute through a Damien Delaney own goal after 6 minutes. Matteo Darmian doubled the lead in the second half with a thunderbolt strike from the edge of the box.
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England and Manchester United captain, Wayne Rooney continued his return to action after being out for two months with a knee injury. Playing in a deeper midfield role, Rooney had a solid showing in the middle of the park before being substituted at 75 minutes for Marouane Fellaini.
Speaking about his captain’s performance, manager Louis van Gaal said,” “He was the player who switched the play and I liked that very much.” The Dutch coach explained his reason for playing Rooney in midfield saying,” I don’t want to change Rashford so I have to look for another position for Wayne. He played there also last year. I am very happy with the way he performed."
Van Gaal further clarified saying,” 'No player has a fixed position, I use the players where I think they can give a higher contribution in a particular game. It was a midfield role tonight because of the way Crystal Palace were playing.”
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Rooney’s form has been a major concern amongst the United faithful this season. His goal output has reduced drastically and has looked to be a shadow of the player that terrorized Premier League defences with only 13 goals in 35 appearances in all competitions this season. Marcus Rashford, the under-19 striker is now keeping Wayne Rooney out of his favoured role as a number 9.
This performance bodes well for the Red Devils with an upcoming FA Cup semi-final against struggling Everton on Saturday. Louis van Gaal will be hoping his team can replicate the attacking prowess they displayed against Crystal Palace against the Toffees as well.
The win piles pressure on Arsenal who are just one point ahead of United in fourth place, the final Champions League spot. Manchester United play Everton on Saturday at the Wembley stadium in London.
