MANCHESTER United squandered the chance to put Chelsea under real pressure at the top of the Barclays Premiership by failing to overcome 10-men Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
In a disappointing game, United were frustrated by a Palace side reduced to 10-men midway through the second half.
Vassilis Lakis was sent off for two bookable offences by referee Mark Clattenburg but United still could not make the most of their numerical advantage.
Ruud van Nistelrooy brought the best out of Palace goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly with a header in the first-half and a 20-yard drive after the break but he wasted his best chance five minutes from time when he blazed the ball over from point blank range.
United had been hoping to reduce the gap at the top but the draw leaves them eight points adrift of the Londoners.
United began brightly enough but only managed to win their first corner of the game in the 13th minute.
However, the visitors failed to profit from the opportunity or increase the pressure on the Palace rearguard when Ryan Giggs placed his cross far beyond any of his team-mates.
It was Palace who were beginning to look the dangerous on the break and a good run by Tom Soares ended with United hurriedly clearing a dangerous low cross from Andrew Johnson.
In the 20th minute Michael Hughes was booked by referee Mark Clattenburg after a late challenge on United full back Gabriel Heinze.
United came close to breaking the deadlock in the 26th minute when van Nistelrooy found enough space to send a telling header towards the corner of the net - but Kiraly was equal to the challenge and palmed the ball away.
On the half-hour, Johnson was hauled down on the edge of the penalty area by Phil Neville but the United player was quick to block the Palace striker's attempt on goal from the subsequent free-kick.
In the 35th minute, Neville let fly with a low drive from 25 yards but Kiraly dived low to his right to deal with the threat.
Lunging
Alan Smith was lucky to escape a red card four minutes later when he raised his hands to Soares after the Palace midfielder's lunging tackle on him.
However, Clattenburg opted to book the Palace player and took no action against Smith as tempers momentarily flared in the blustery conditions.
The home fans were angered at the interval when United boss Sir Alex Ferguson gestured at Clattenburg and his assistants as they walked off the field.
United made a double change in the 55th minute with Neville and Quinton Fortune replaced by Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes - Ferguson clearly feeling he needed to inject more urgency into his midfield as Palace continued to keep them at bay.
United were desperate for a victory to keep the pressure on leaders Chelsea at the top of the table - but Palace were determined to make them work for any reward.
That almost arrived in the 57th minute when van Nistelrooy sent a 20-yard shot towards the left-hand corner of Kiraly's net - but again the Palace goalkeeper was alert and agile enough to tip the effort round the post.
In the 63rd minute United's victory chances increased when Lakis was sent off for a second bookable offence.
The Palace player had been booked early in the second half and when he caught United skipper Roy Keane on the right wing, Clattenburg had no option but to dismiss him.
In the 73rd minute, Smith was replaced by Wayne Rooney as United continued to search for a crucial matchwinner.
Rooney almost created it for van Nistelrooy in the 79th minute when his clever backheel presented the Dutchman with a clear shot on goal from just inside the penalty area - but the normally lethal marksman scuffed his effort and Kiraly once gain dealt with the danger comfortably.
It was all United in the final 10 minutes but, to their credit, Palace refused to buckle under the intense pressure.
And United's day of frustration was summed up with five minutes remaining when van Nistelrooy blazed the ball over from less than three yards after Wes Brown had headed Rio Ferdinand's cross into his path.
What is your verdict on the game? Have your say.
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Without the luck that you've been so prone too your are a team of over-payed, over-rated wannabe's. If Arsenal have had a decimal of your luck they'd be scrappin with Chelski to the death. You are finished you bunch of muppets. Guess you better try signing Ronaldinho again, who'll play for city b4 he plays for your team of mugs....Silly Rags cups are for Blue's !!!
City till I die !!
Is lucky draw for Man Utd, you know y? Start with 3 defensive midfielder, put Alan Smith as winger which he is unsuitable in that place.
Compare with team after subsitution by C.Ronaldo and Paul Scholes, cystal palace in under attacking in 30 minutes. Why Alex Fergusan do not
use 3 times 30 minutes, 90, to match? Is that more creative and effectives? Man Utd loss this title becauce of failure in start line
against Crytal Palace. It is same like macth with AC Milan. Use lot defensive midfield and stupid subtitute out C.Ronaldo. Failure Manager!
Fergusons tinkering cost us again. Seemingly he must think we have a chance in Europe. Well he needs to take a long hard look at his arrogant self to fully appreciate that this side is not good enough. Ruud is hopeless in the premiership and is no where near fit enough to be in the starting line up. We are not good enough to compete with this side even Everton can string a run together consistentcy is somethign we lack. Ferguson believes we can beat Palace and rest players well today again proves the point. Stop tinkering and play your strongest side.
once again fergies selections hamper use again,why playing a team like palace away from home..who battle hard,fergie leaves rooney,ronaldo,an scholes on the bench.first half we never got playn well. why not start with our best 11 an when we start to lead u can then think about resting players.insted of the last 2 games leaving everything to the last few mins
remember carrolls own goal against Spurs... It all comes back.... Lets look forward to tuesday and forget the game
I knew this would happen. Mr Tinkerman has done it again. We didn't have a match during midweek but he just had to rest Rooney, Scholes and Ronaldo. Where did he think the inspiration would come from?? Phil Neville?? We need an amazing performance on Tuesday to save our season.
The game agst Palace practically sums up all the reasons why the EPL title is not gonna end up in Old Trafford. Play poorly in the first half and start to panic in the second half. Wasteful in possession and chances. There were just too many MU players looking to hitch a ride, hoping his teammates can drive them through the games. Smith, Giggs were just v bad. giggs esp. How many wayward crosses did he commit?..it just shows that he is very sloppy, slipshod and execute his moves without thinking. Whenever he loses the ball, he instantly look to the referee to save his unwise incessant dribblings. Smith was simply anther excuse for an extra and unwanted pass in midfield and RvN is v v POOR. Wes Brown wasnt exactly fantastic either...he slips and loses the ball once...twice..thrice and u noe its not the pitch. This are exact replays of how MU played in the earlier games bef it went on a tremendous run like the stalemate agst Everton n City. So much is talked abt Chelsea and how they ve raised the bar. If we want to win the EPL, we have to finish weaker teams AWAY. We cannot ve the jerkyl and Hyde mentality like Pool. Neither can we win with players who consistently or every now and then show that they are not able to perform consistently...like Giggs. And lastly, if RvN is not ready, then for goodness sake, dun put him in. Premiership games are not reserve games.
watched match on cable - utter rubbish - how can we not beat 10man relegation team?
come in keane, giggs, scholes and neville - your time is up
lets all back malcom glazer and hope he brngs in enough money to attract top european manager and big names fergie has failed to attract - ronaldhino etc
Oh well. We tried, that aside it was going to be one of hose days.
What's more we should not have to 'talk up' our form, all it seems to do is disprove our credentials!!.
Yes we could say 'If only', but the fact of it is that we couldn't beat a 10 man team that being honest, apart from fight don't have an awful lot going for them.
Ruud is seriuosly 'off-colour' - not surprisingly, and tge chances needed to be taken without the haste that appeared to be all too common!!
Back to square one - again!
This doesn't seem to be the pre-Milan display we had hoped for.
Again lacking the poise and creativity we have been lacking all too often this season!
Up The Reds
I cannot believe we have drawn another game in the league. Why couldn't we have just got the ball in the net? We had so many chances despite Keano's "goal". Fergie has to learn not to weaken his sides, he always does it. Why didn't he play his strongest side? 18 points dropped by drawing now, we should have had at least 10 of those points. (Man City, Blackburn, Fulham, Spurs, Everton.) - All games we should have won but were frustrated like today.
That review is a joke, even with the disallowed goal you failed to mention your teams constant intimidation of the ref which led to him giving everything in your favour for the whole match.
Bit of therapy for yours truly. I've always thought that the best team wins the league. In my memory, thats been the case, with one exception (I won't endear myself to fellow worshippers on this site, but I thought Keegan's Newcastle were the better team when we beat them to the league). This year, the best team is Chelsea, and they will win it. At least it wasn't Arsenal, who the press built up last year to be the finest thing since sliced bread but are likely now to be a side broken up, with the ego's flying south. I hope we get second place, because that means we don't have the extra burden of pre-qualifying for the CL. I think well come back a lot stronger next year, providing we can keep Ronny, etc. I don't think Tuesday's tie is over by any stretch of the imagination - I believe Milan will know they have been in a game after that one. I truly hope he doesn't play Ruud, who is clearly nowhere near ready. Now, looking into the future, one or two suggestions. Firstly, switch Heinze to the middle, and Sylvestre to the left. Heinze's distribution is just about as bad as it gets, yet he is one of the best defenders in Europe. Any coach worth his salt will know that if you can get the pass out of defence to come from him, you have an excellent chance of getting the ball back, so move Sylvestre back out wide. Second, another suggestion from a heretic. I know I'll be accused of a knee-jerk reaction, but check my previous postings - I'd sell RVN and take the 25 million we could probably get for him. Sorry, but for me, whilst I recognise he is (usually) a class finisher, he doesn't do enough work. We coped perfectly fine when he was injured, and the money could be better employed elsewhere, like on a Vicente. United's forward future lies with Rooney, Smith (a striker who can bring others into the game), Saha, even Rossi. To buy quality reinforcements, Ruud is our most saleable asset - sorry, but there it is. Finally, and its not related to United directly, but I wonder when the FA are going to bring in some uniform system for the preparation of pitches. It was patently obvious today that Palace did not water the pitch and wanted it as bumpy and unplayable as possible. It was only when the rain came at half-time that a game of football could start, rather than the kick and run we all had to suffer first half. Anyway, time to kick the cat....
About time Palace had some luck versus United.
Ha ha ha ha ha could not beat ten man palace yet you all think you have a chance of winning the league . The title is going to london ( where all your fans are from ) ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
SOUR grapes I'm afraid and when we all hear about goals being wrongly disallowed the Mendes GOAL for Spurs not long ago quickly springs to mind. Does any of the Utd fans still think you can win the title or for that matter the champions league? taking everything into consideration you might win as much as City this season,we shall see.
well it's now over mybe even the season.
he just can't stop meddling with the team can he why leave your top goal-scorer on the bench in place of a player who clearly is not match fit.
come tuesday we my be out of europe altogether so just like the 70's it's the good old f.a.cup to fall back on.
it is now time for change fergie must go because if we wn the fa cup this year then this is only a poor return for the investment of the last 3 years .
we need new blood for next season and it shows some of his buys are not that good to say the least it's time for change and hopefully giggs /caroll,/ kleberson, bellion, miller and fergie will be them to make a change i don;t like to say it but sometime things do need a shake up
I thought the ball had to go in the net to be a goal - like against Spurs. But maybe - like against Spurs - there are special rules for Manchester United?
Hopefully all you reds will now recognise that you're a distant relic of the team that you were a few years ago and stop harping on about catching Chelsea and winning any trophies in the forseeable future!
Well done SAF 4-5-1 against the mighty Palace! Was this a game we had to win or not?Why does he persist with this ridiculous defensive minded system even against sides who we should be able to brush aside in the first 20mins playing either a 4-4-2 or even 4-2-4 at home.I can understand it more against the likes of Milan and Chelski were there is little to choose in quality between the teams but against Palace,City, Portsmouth etc ? Come on??? This is handing the silverware to Chelski?
So the title must surely be gone now after the Palace farce and even the most ardent Reds fan expects Milan to finish the job on Tuesday which leaves only the FA Cup.I am wrestling with idea of beating the Ars 3 times in 1 season and I have to say I'm not at all sure we can? We will see but whatever happens in the close season starting in April it is going to be very interesting not least for the influx of much-needed quality players in certain areas of the team and the off loading of deadwood from the vastly over-rated squad and youth team but also for a post mortum which I would implore Gill to conduct on the coaching and tactics that have been adopted this season.There can be little dispute anymore that at least 10 points have been tossed recklessly away because we have been far too cautious both home and away and have completly underestimated the determination and consistancy of Chelski.The responsibility for that lies squarely with messrs Ferguson and Quieros. So we either stop living on past glories like the club did in the early seventies,recognise our shortcomings and correct them with a policy of attacking football in the great tradition of MUFC or we face a slow, Liverpool-type decline to Uefa cup obscurity.
tut tut tut and against poor opposition with only 10 men,did all your so called"world class superstars"think that just turning up would entitle them to an automatic three points?Think again and concentrate all your efforts on the cup you couldn,t be bothered to enter just a few years back,because that is your only realistic chance of any silverware this year."How the mighty have fallen" and it makes for great viewing,your team is definately on the downward curve and that my friends takes some stopping just ask Liverpool supporters,ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Thanks Fergie for handing the title to Chelsea. You are cheating the fans. You leave 2 of the best attacking players in Europe on the bench, play 3 defensive midfielders and an unfit striker up front on his own. This was Crystal Palace, for Gods sake. This game was just as important as the game against AC Milan. We could have really rattled Chelsea. Remember how we won the treble, by playing flowing attacking football with 2 up front. We need the spirit of 1999 back next Tuesday. By the way could the fans of pathetic, useless City stay out off this site. This site is for winners.
If O'Shea had started in place of Zinedine or if the substitutions had been made in the first half the result might have been different.The season is definitely over and barring the extremely unlikely event of an upset in Milan the only hope for silverware lies with the FA cup.All this is down to Ferguson and it is a pity the board does not have the courage to get rid of him.
Duff was right. Mourinho was right. drogba was right. Now Kezman says it: Read it and Weep, Ragamuffins (especially the arrogant, blinkered ones like Red Tom and Lee)...
'Kezman was equally dismissive of United, adding: "I don't care about them because everything is in our hands.
"We have a confidence about ourselves and we don't care about anyone else.
"We believe in ourselves, we have got the quality and we have shown we are the best side in the competition and are mentally strong. '
Good night Vienna.
I'd put this one down to the poor line-up selection. (I am equally frustrated and alarmed at the number of 0-0 draws in the last two years. My opinion, it's team selection.) They are chasing the title and could not afford a supposedly easy suanter before a Europe match. They only got going when Ronaldo, Scholes, then Rooney came on. I agree with those who think Ruud's not ready for Milan. He's not sharp. The author of this article is an embarrassment to United supporters. Keane did not have a goal disallowed, though he was clearly ON side. A note about the league results and some brief history. I applaud Chelsea for the phenomenal season they are having. If they win their 29th game, they'll have more points than the Liverpool side of 1988 through the same number of games. United are 1 point behind after 29 games than they were in their 91 point season in 2000. A personal note to my fellow United fans. I'm optimistic about the future. Ferdinand, Heinze, Rooney, Ronaldo, Smith.
All the opposite teams has known Sir AF strategy. He must try a magic recipe or the amazing ones. Try use: 4-3-3, or 3-4-3, or 3-4-1-2, or 1-2-4-3. The target: make goals, as much as they can. Total football ! Attack! ha ha ha