Player Ratings: Crystal Palace 2 - 3 Manchester United

Manchester United

David de Gea – 6.5/10

Not the trademark sensational performance that many have come to expect from De Gea. Whilst there was absolutely nothing he could do about the first goal thanks to a deflection, the second was a goal you would really expect a keeper of his quality to be saving. Outside of that however, he had a solid game and made an exceptional and immensely important save against Benteke just after United equalised.

Antonio Valencia - 6/10 (Subbed off: 67th)

Antoni Valencia was one of United's better players during the first half, and certainly fared better than his full-back partner. He did a decent job defensively and the majority of Palace's attacks came from the opposite side of the pitch. Unfortunately for Valencia, a lot of his runs were largely ignored by his team-mates, and he did not provide all that much in terms of attacking play.

Juan Mata - 8/10 (Subbed on: 67th)

All of Mourinho's subs were a great piece of tactical play, but Mata had to be the best of the three. He gave the attack a real purpose and he was one of the few United players who's passing seemed to be a threat, linking the midfield with the attack. United's midfield were significantly more useful once Mata was brought on, and the attitude of the team seemed to change.

Chris Smalling - 6/10

This is a really funny one to try and give a grade to. On one hand, defensively, Smalling was really disappointing. Both goals can somewhat be blamed on Smalling and a lack of focus on his behalf lead to Crystal Palace having plenty of opportunities. That said, he did score a very important goal with a good header and that certainly counts for something.

Victor Lindelöf - 4/10

Not a very good game from the Swede at all. He seemed almost disconnected from the game at times and had quite a few sloppy headers or miss-kicks that Palace could have capitalised upon. Lindelöf hasn't quite adjusted to the Premier League yet and has been inconsistent. With that in mind, this game was certainly a miss.

Ashley Young – 4/10 (Subbed off: 67th)

Far from a good game for Young last night. He’s never truly been a fullback and defensively he simply was not up to the task. He was completely unaware of Townsend - Palace’s most dangerous player - and even when he got forward, which should be the strongest part of the game, he was easily shut down by Bissakka. Fortunately his mid-game replacement fared better.

Luke Shaw - 7/10 (Subbed on: 67th)

Luke Shaw has yet to completely recover from his horrendous leg-breaking injury against PSV, but he certainly showed that he deserves more time on the pitch than Mourinho is currently giving him. United were a far better team with Shaw on the pitch and he was solid defensively, as well as lending himself well to the attack.

Scott McTominay - 3/10 (Subbed off: 45th)

I'm a big fan of McTominay and think he has put in some great performances off-late as part of the United squad. That said, today was not his day and whilst he was on the pitch United's midfield were absolutely devoid of life and creativity. I'm sure he'll bounce back though in no time and find a similar performance to the one against Chelsea.

Marcus Rashford - 7/10 (Subbed on: 45th)

Rashford's task was to be an impact sub and that is exactly what he was. Minutes after coming on he was crashing into Crystal Palace's penalty area and putting pressure on the Palace defenders. Rashford breathed life and energy into the United side and his presence was felt immediately, by the United attack and Palace defence alike.

Nemanja Matić - 7/10

Another really difficult performance to evaluate. On one hand, Matic was part of United woeful midfield in the first half and struggled to close down the Crystal Palace players effectively. He gave quite a few balls away and had a largely disappointing performance. He had a far better second half which he capped off with an absolutely sensational goal to win the game for his team.

Paul Pogba - 6/10

Not a great performance compared to the high standards that people hold the Frenchman to. A number of misplaced and poor balls plagued Pogba's first half performance and whilst, like almost all of the United team, he somewhat woke up in the second half, it was still one of his weaker games.

Jesse Lingard - 6/10

Lingard has had quite the season thus far, scoring more goals than ever before and being a clutch player in a large number of United's games. By those standards, he had a quiet game against Palace, not playing a large part in any of United's attacks and, bar fizzing a ball past the post during United's dire first half, not having any memorable moments.

Romelu Lukaku - 8/10

Obviously in the first half Lukaku was pretty much devoid of supply. His teammates simply were not there for him and offered him very little scraps to feed on. But when Lukaku did get an opportunity he made the most of it, making some great runs, whipping in some dangerous balls, and obviously scoring a brilliant and largely individual equaliser.

Alexis Sánchez - 6/10

Sánchez is still very much trying to find his feet at United. In a first half devoid of pretty much anything, Sánchez was one of the few players putting the effort in, dragging the team forward and putting the ball into dangerous areas. The effort was all there, and he played a few lovely through balls and chips, but most of what he tried didn't quite come off and he lost United the ball far more times than a player of his calibre should.