By As Crystal Palace held out for a 0-0 draw on Saturday, Man United was left to regret not seizing their chances and required some heroics from goalkeeper Andre Onana.
On a field where they were destroyed 4-0 just four months prior, United dominated in the first half with goals from Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho for the visitors.
However, Palace’s first league victory of the season was only prevented by an incredible double save by Onana after the break.
After winning just two of their first five games of the new Premier League season, United drops to 11th place with a point.
The lowest point of United’s turbulent season came during their humiliating loss on their most recent trip to Selhurst Park in May.
Many questioned if Erik ten Hag would ever manage another game, but the Dutchman was given another opportunity after an unexpected FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City.
This time, the Red Devils came in south London on a high note, having defeated Southampton 3-0 and Barnsley 7-0 in the League Cup midweek with ten goals in the previous seven days.
After breaking his goal drought in those two games with three goals, Marcus Rashford was unexpectedly benched by Ten Hag.
Alejandro Garnacho, nevertheless, was a brilliant choice to remain on the left since he destroyed Palace early on without adding the finishing touch.
Before halftime, Eagles goalie Dean Henderson, a former United goalkeeper, kept the team in the match.
In his first big opportunity, Garnacho’s curling effort was insufficient to defeat Henderson.
The England goalkeeper then parried a downward header from Matthijs de Ligt before Lisandro Martinez shot directly at Henderson with yet another open opportunity.
Then, in a matter of seconds, the visitors hit the bar twice, and United knew they were out of luck.
After Diogo Dalot’s deft pass, Garnacho raced onto it to curl off the woodwork, and Fernandes’ subsequent attempt also clipped the bar.
Despite their overwhelming superiority, Ten Hag’s team might have trailed at the half if Eberechi Eze had done more with Palace’s initial clear sight of goal than a meek attempt to put the ball in Onana’s hands.
At the interval, Palace manager Oliver Glasner made two substitutions in response.
In exchange for Jefferson Lerma and Ismaila Sarr, England international Adam Wharton and top goalscorer from the previous campaign Jean-Philippe Mateta were sacrificed, which led to a much more competitive second half.
After pulling off a nice one-two with Joshua Zirkzee, Fernandes came dangerously close to scoring again with a bold attempt outside the boot that went wide.
However, Onana’s brief display of brilliance was all that kept United from suffering their third league loss in as many games this year.
The former Ajax goalkeeper leaped off the ground to stop Sarr from tapping in the rebound after getting down brilliantly to deflect Eddie Nketiah’s long-range effort.
Another fantastic opportunity for Palace to win all three points was missed when Eze side-footed the goal from close range.
Palace drops to 16th place after a draw, but United will be more irritated at having lost the chance to pick up three victories in a row.
