Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace: 3 observations from the game

As the Premier League resumed at Old Trafford, Manchester United left a lot to do after the derby defeat last time out while Palace looked to avoid dropping into the relegation zone. With Luke Shaw injured, Young shifted to the left allowing Darmian to start from the right back position. Wilfried Zaha was back from a hamstring injury to face his old club.

The game started just the way Jose Mourinho wanted, with United on the front foot from the word go. In the quarter of the game, both the sides had some half decent chances to score with Wilfried Zaha coming close to break the deadlock for the visitors.

At the half-hour mark, United had two glorious chances - one from Lingard and then from Martial, but Hennessey was up to his task on both occasions. Late in the first half, Palace put the ball at the back of the net from a free-kick only to be ruled out as offside. It was a real let-off for Jose Mourinho's team.

The onus was on Red Devils to force the issue in the second half. With United pushing high, Lukaku had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside. Palace looked the better team with Townsend coming close to give Roy Hodgson's side the lead in the second half. Zaha was running the show for the Eagles keeping both Smalling and Lindelof modest in defence.

United barraged the Palace defence late in the game with long balls, but the Eagles defended their lines well. It was another frustrating evening for Jose Mourinho who lost further grounds in their title ambition.

Here are the three observations from the game.

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#3 Another disappointing first-half performance from United

Pogba was poor in the first half.

After the derby defeat, Jose Mourinho expected a much better response from his side today. However, he did get one, but it was just for the first ten minutes of the half. Since then, they allowed Palace to come back into the game with the Eagles creating some decent chances of their own.

Manchester United had all the possession, but it left them vulnerable to counter attacks. Regarding individual performances, both Martial and Pogba were miserable with the latter giving away cheap passes quite often in the first half.

It is becoming a norm that United won't perform their best in the first 45 minutes leaving everything to do in the second half. It comes off sometimes, but most of the times it doesn't.

#2 Lack of goals worries Roy Hodgson

Zaha was the threat for Palace.

Crystal Palace didn't have a great record in Manchester with the Eagles last getting a point at Old Trafford in 1989. However, Roy Hodgson's side did everything they could today except scoring a goal. Despite United having more possession of the ball, Palace created better chances than their opposition.

In the first half, Patrick van Aanholt got a clear 1-v-1 chance from a lightning counter-attack instigated by Wilfried Zaha, but his shot went wide off the post. Similarly, in the second half, Townsend got an open shot at goal, but he couldn't time his shot correctly either. A point at Old Trafford is a good result, but it could have been better if they had taken their chances.

Palace is defensively excellent but its the lack of goals upfront what's bothering Roy Hodgson. The Eagles are now fifteenth in the league but could find themselves in the bottom three if Huddersfield win their match against Wolves.

#1 Missing fluidity in United's play

Martial looked out of touch today.

The success behind the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are not only built on quality players but also the style of play they have adapted so far. All these teams have a proper game plan and a Philips to build upon which is visibly lacking at Manchester United.

Again today, from the midfield to the strikers, the build-up play was weak, and there seemed to be no cohesion in the passing. There were numerous instances when a clear chance got wasted due to one poor pass or wrong decision-making.

In the second half, the introduction of Marcus Rashford did inject a bit of life among the players but not enough to open Palace's rear guard. Arguably, Roy Hodgson's side had better chances in the game and would feel unlucky not to get all three points from the match. Late in the second half, United deployed the long ball tactics, but nothing came out of it either.