PLAYER RATINGS: Crystal Palace 1-2 Man Utd
David De Gea – 9
Looked very solid at the back, and made a couple of great saves to get the 3 points. Was also very safe and impressive with his handling of crosses.
Antonio Valencia – 6
He was average – good while attacking, but predictably disappointing with his crossing. Defensively he was average – Zaha did get the better of him at times. Needs to be better.
Chris Smalling – 7
Marshalled the defence well and also kept the Palace strikers at bay. Has potential to be very good and personally I really like him. However, the foul which eventually led to the equalizer was clumsy. Otherwise a fairly good performance, and also donned the captain’s armband after Rooney’s exit.
Phil Jones – 7
A good performance. Like Smalling, he has the potential to be among the best, but continues to be a little careless and clumsy.
Luke Shaw – 7
Another unfortunate injury, but whilst he was on the pitch he looked really good, and had Bolasie covered. Injuries have been the story of his season; let’s hope he works on his fitness in the summer. He has time on his side and should progress well.
Daley Blind – 7
He was good , but is not a natural CDM – he loses the ball a little too easily, whereas at LB he looks composed . During most of the game he provided good cover to the back 4, and also came close to scoring with a nice shot that was turned onto the post by Speroni.
Ander Herrera – 7
A real livewire on the pitch, Herrera is always involved in the game. Though this game was not his best , he did play well and passed the ball around nicely.
Marouane Fellaini – 6.5
OK, he scored the winner with a well-taken header, but other than the goal he was poor. He gave the ball away and committed clumsy fouls. The aerial threat is always there, but he has to be doing more in games.
Ashley Young – 9
Definitely the most improved player, he provided an assist for the winner and otherwise was excellent. He terrorised Joel Ward on the left, and also won the penalty. MOTM was between him and De Gea, but this was another excellent performance. However, maybe he should work more on crossing from his left, as they are a little too deep at times.
Juan Mata – 7
I think we have found our penalty taker! He also made some good passes, but I think he needs to take more shots, and also his link up with Valencia needs to improve. Otherwise, a good performance.
Wayne Rooney – 6.5
Sustained an injury – hopefully it’s not too serious. Wasn’t really involved in the game except for a few good passes. Nevertheless, he should start the Arsenal game.
SUBS
Jonny Evans – 6
Oh boy… every time he comes on the pitch I get scared. He played left back, and didn’t look good at all. He made some good blocks but otherwise this was a very unsatisfactory performance, and he could (hopefully!) be one of the first names out in the summer.
Radamel Falcao – 7
This was one of his better performances. He played a lovely ball to Herrera towards the end and held the play up well. I don’t know whether to sign him up or not, but maybe a loan till January is not a bad option if we can reduce his wages. Not a bad performance this weekend, but we still have to sign another striker in the summer.
Paddy McNair – 6.5
Can’t really evaluate his game based on the 10-20 minutes he played, but he looked okay. Should have been tighter on Murray in one instance, but otherwise didn’t do much wrong.
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