Manchester United needed a second-half goal to beat a resolute Crystal Palace, the win takes them into European places
By Kehinde Okeowo
The red half of Manchester won the third game in four in all competitions after they narrowly defeated Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.
United dominated ball possession in the game but there was little to separate the two teams in terms of the shots they had on the target.
The breakthrough finally came in the 77th minute, when Fred beat the Crystal Palace keeper from outside the box with his right foot after an assist from Mason Greenwood, to make it 1-0 to United.
Palace tried to respond after going a goal down, but it was a little too late, as United ensured a clean sheet to go 6th in the league.
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The new manager, Ralf Rangnick, who took charge for the first time, said he was impressed with the overall performance of the teams despite struggling to goals.
“I am very happy with the way the team performed, especially the first half-hour, with the pressing, it was exceptional,” Rangnick told BBC Match of the Day. “The only thing missing was the 1-0 or 2-0.
“The way we defended, we had control of the whole game.
“The clean sheet was the most important part. These are the things we must improve. We need to keep clean sheets. With just one training session, I was impressed. We did much better than expected.
The 63-year-old commended the way the team attacked and defended, saying the team balanced both aspects of the game effectively.
“We always tried to be on the front foot. We were never not apart from maybe the last five minutes. At all other times, we were trying to keep them away from our goal
United will travel to Carrow road next to meet Norwich City. and they will be looking to pick the maximum points in their bid to cover the gap between them and the league leaders.