A 6th defeat on the spin looks bad for Palace, but like the Chelsea game, I thought we played well. This was a huge contrast to the dross against Liverpool, Burnley, Leicester and Villa. We were unlucky with the timing of the opener coming so shortly after an incident where the consensus seemed to be we should have been awarded a penalty.
Palace returned to a 442, not too dissimilar to one that lined up frequently in the 17/18 season. It resulted in a bright, positive, attacking play. Townsend, Ayew and most of all Zaha gave United a lot of problems. Mcarthur was perhaps the odd one out in midfield, but he used the overlapping Van Aanholt well to provide the pace. United were always going to cause problems on the break, but we generally had an answer for their approach play when we did have men back. Wan-Bissaka isn't particularly dangerous out wide and Fosu-Mensah playing as an inverted LB meant we could crowd around their front three.
I have to say, I'm not surprised that the dropping of the limited Kouyate saw Palace play better football. I'm not a fan at all.
Guaita 7 - Good handling and saved what he realistically could
Ward 7 - Much better from Ward in possession this time out. Solid defensively as well.
Dann 8 - Classy and composed in possession. He's put together a nice run in the side. I hope he stays fit for the remaining two.
Sakho 6 - Really struggled with Maguire at set pieces. Reasonably good distribution from the back.
Van Aanholt 7 - Was having a good game until the injury. I hope Roy uses Mitchell in the final two.
Townsend 7 - A much better performance from Townsend. He played some intricate, one touch and clever football.
Milivojevic 6 - Better than recent weeks, but it's still not the high standards he has previously set himself.
McCarthy 6 - Put in a real shift.
Mcarthur 6 - Used Van Aanholt well on the overlap and supported the attacks nicely. Loses a mark for not taking on the shot when well placed.
Ayew 6 - Worked hard, but the wrong weight of pass once too often tonight when we had players in advanced positions.
Zaha 8 - A classy performance from Zaha. Should have had a penalty, was a mm away from a great assist and generally caused them problems all night long.
Mitchell looked composed which was nice to see.
Riedewald didn't seem to into the pace of the game.
Schlupp looked rusty, but I think he'll give us some nice balance to end the season with.
For the rest of the season I think I'd like us to line up with:
Guaita
Ward Dann Sakho Mitchell
Townsend Mcarthur Milivojevic Schlupp
Ayew Zaha
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