Manchester United maintain their relentless pursuit of a place in the Champions league after a hard-fought match against the Eagles. United were under some pressure after Leicester's earlier victory against Sheffield United and responded with a victory which keeps them level on points with Leicester and just a 3 goal, goal difference.

United started the first half similar to Southampton, very shaky, not attacking as they would like to and sloppy in their passing. Crystal palace on the other hand were more aggressive, attack minded, with Wilfred Zaha spurning the best opening, and Ayew was denied by David De Gea - before Marcus struck the opener right on half time after sending two of Palace's defenders the wrong way and tucked in which was a pretty classy finish.

Roy Hodgson's side came with an intent to equalize in the second half, and thought they did when Jordan Ayew slide home, only for VAR to rule it for offside. A very tight one, but again that is what VAR is bought in for. With 10 minutes to play, Marcus set up a perfect ball for Martial, which was converted by the Frenchman to make it 2-0 and once more a job well done for Ole and his side.

It was a pretty close match, but Manchester United had their moments and most importantly they could capitalize on those without missing. Ole's side are now unbeaten in 19 games a new record for the Norwegian. Project Restart has really been a breath of fresh air, it has allowed the team to gel, get back fitter and it was a perfect start that Ole would have hoped for.

Important points to talk about this game :

Dave Saves

The debate to bring in Dean Henderson is going on for a long long time, because of The Spaniard's blunders. But David had his best performance for a long time. Pulled off a string of great saves. The free-kick, flying save was top class. Again showing he's here to stay.

Martial and Marcus Show

Our front three this season have been mint. With Lukaku and Sanchez both leaving in summer, it was very important for Marcus and Martial to step up their game and they've done just that. Greenwood contributing have just been a cherry on top. Marcus and Martial have had a total of 63 goal involvements this season with 22 goals each and Marcus with 11 assists as compared to Martial's 8. Both are on the road for their individual best seasons and are aiming for 25+ goals this season, which at the start of this season seemed impossible. Just goes to show how much faith Ole has on them, and how well they've rose to the occasion.

Ole needs squad depth!

Even against palace, the players looked tad bit tired. Ole needs options on the bench, quality options which he can rotate freely without compromising on the quality of players. Ole just had 2 substitutions this match, which makes it seemingly clear that he does not have enough confidence in his substitutes. With the players being young, it is not much of a problem, but in-case of an injury to any of his playing 11 players, he just cannot replace him with an equally good player.

Sancho is a must, Ake could be a good backup defender, Maddison or Grealish would be perfect and a CDM who can play like Matic, Thomas Partey could be a proper replacement, as I've said this many many times, that Matic due to his age cannot play 2 matches in a span of 3-4 days.

Bruno is World Class!

Bruno is showing his class in literally every game he's played, he's a leader without an armband. Manchester United have not lost a single game since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon. Martial has scored more goals since this restart than any other EPL player. Since Bruno has came, he's made all the players around him play better. He's averaging a goal involvement every 73 minutes. He's literally a bargain at that price. I am shocked as to how they even sold him to United this cheap.

7 goals and 8 assists in 12 games, this guy is absolutely Mint and United fans certainly cannot wait for the next season to start and 1-2 more quality players, would make them a formidable side.

What's next

Manchester United play against Chelsea on Sunday night for a FA cup semi-final. It will be a tough game for both the teams, but advantage clearly with United given their form, and they've already beaten Chelsea 3 times this season.

Next up they face West Ham on Thursday, and they end with Leicester next Sunday.

Until next time! Stay Safe!

Cheers!