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Ten Hag’s side were hammered 4-0 in this exact fixture last season and the United manager will have again been disappointed at the draw on Saturday.
Alejandro Garnacho was denied by the woodwork after 27 minutes, with the same outcome following for Bruno Fernandes on the rebound, as United squandered numerous opportunities in a one-sided first half.
Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson frustrated his former side throughout, though Oliver Glasner’s Palace team could have snatched victory if not for missed second-half chances from Ismaila Sarr, denied by Onana’s wonderful double-save, and Eberechi Eze.
The result leaves Palace in 16th, two points clear of the bottom three, while United are 11th.
How the match unfolded
Buoyed by their midweek EFL Cup thrashing of Barnsley, United controlled the opening period without reward as Garnacho and Matthijs de Ligt forced impressive early stops from Henderson.
Garnacho’s curling effort was denied by the woodwork after Diogo Dalot’s incisive pass before the half-hour mark, with Fernandes cannoning his follow-up attempt off the top of the crossbar.
Fernandes went close again after the interval, curling narrowly wide of the top-left corner before Garnacho’s hopeful left-wing attempt forced another smart Henderson stop.
Andre Onana was required at the other end to keep the visitors level, however, pushing away Eddie Nketiah’s rasping drive before denying Sarr at full-stretch with a wonderful save that stunned the watching crowd.
Eze squandered a glorious chance with 18 minutes remaining, placing wide with the goal at his mercy from Sarr’s cutback pass, as Palace’s wait for their first win of the season continued.
Struggling start continues for Glasner
Glasner appeared to have transformed Palace’s fortunes after replacing Roy Hodgson, winning six of the final seven league games last season.
That form has not followed into this season, however, with Palace’s struggling attack missing the influence of star winger Michael Olise after his move to Bayern Munich.
Eze and Jean-Phillipe Mateta do remain from last term’s deadly attacking trio, and the England midfielder almost netted before the break when directing straight at Onana from Tyrick Mitchell’s cutback offload.
Glasner searched for solutions at half-time, replacing the ineffective Mateta with Sarr, who immediately linked up well with Eze to provide some home excitement.
Sarr should have opened the scoring just past the hour, racing in from Nketiah’s saved attempt but failed to beat the onrushing Onana from point-blank range.
The Palace winger made amends for that missed opportunity, leaving two United defenders on the floor before sliding back for Eze, who guided a right-footed finish wide of the bottom-right corner under little pressure.
Glasner must find a way for Palace to improve in front of goal if they are to move away from the lower part of the table, with their next clash coming away to struggling Everton.
United lack clinical edge
Goals remain the problem for Ten Hag, with United finding the net just five times this season – only Crystal Palace (four), Ipswich Town (three) and Southampton (two) have scored fewer among teams to have played five games in the competition.
That issue does not come from struggling to create chances, with Christian Eriksen twice finding De Ligt from set-piece situations at Selhurst Park, only to be thwarted by the one-man wall of Henderson.
De Ligt’s centre-back partner Lisandro Martinez almost squirmed another chance under the desperate dive of the Palace goalkeeper, who also foiled Garnacho with a fine save early on.
Joshua Zirkzee was brought in from Bologna to turn around United’s attacking output, though the forward headed wide and then prodded a stretching finish at Henderson following Fernandes’ cross in the opening half.
Ever-reliant Fernandes almost broke the deadlock after linking up with Zirkzee, but – in a familiar tale for United – failed to find the top-left corner with an outside-of-the-boot finish from the perimeter of the box.
Marcus Rashford’s introduction did little to improve the attacking penetration, an aspect which Ten Hag will be desperate to improve in United’s next league clash at home to Tottenham.
Club reports
Palace report | Man Utd report
What the managers said
Oliver Glasner:Â “Dean Henderson kept us alive and in the first half we have never played like this.”
Erik ten Hag: “When we don’t win, I’m not content. We should
PREMIER LEAGUE