Manchester United were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace as Andre Onana and Dean Henderson’s goalkeeping heroics kept the game goalless.
Onana denied Palace a second-half lead with an incredible double save to rival Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya, keeping out Eddie Nketiah and then substitute Ismaila Sarr, producing the pick of the saves when his opposite number finished with seven.
Had it not been for Henderson, United would have been out of sight by the break. The former Carrington graduate produced three big stops in the first half, before tipping over Alejandro Garnacho’s curling effort at full stretch moments before Onana’s double save.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Onana makes an incredible double save to deny Crystal Palace
Bruno Fernandes and Garnacho also struck the bar in quick succession in a first half that United dominated. Eberechi Eze should have punished their wastefulness, spurning two glorious chances either side of the break. Palace remain winless in the league as a result.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Eze missed a glorious chance to give Crystal Palace the lead
Erik ten Hag took the decision to leave Marcus Rashford out after he had scored in back-to-back games. The 26-year-old was unable to impact the game off the bench and the thinking around his omission will now, inevitably, be questioned.
United will ultimately see this as two points dropped and remain in the bottom half after managing just two wins from their opening five league games.
Player of the match: Dean Henderson
Alejandro Garnacho is denied by Dean Henderson
The Palace goalkeeper told Sky Sports: “We missed a couple of key opportunities. There was one in the second half where maybe we could have scrambled it over the line. Andre made a great save and we were unlucky in the end. We’ll take the point and we’ll be delighted with it.
“We were attacking the game to win it. We had a game plan and they actually did really well. I don’t think it quite worked in the first half. We made some tweaks in the second half, which were a bit more aggressive on the front foot. And obviously that’s why we had a little bit more success second half.
“[Oliver Glasner] was obviously frustrated with the way we were playing, he felt like we were playing so cautious and he wanted us to take the safety cap off and go for it. On nights like this, you don’t have anything to lose. You’re the underdog and you’ve just got to take it on the front foot.
“The first half was disappointing from our point of view, we were a bit better second half, but there’s more to come.”
Opta stats: Henderson’s busy day
● Dean Henderson made seven saves against Manchester United; the most by a Crystal Palace goalkeeper in a Premier League match without conceding since Vicente Guaita v Newcastle in January 2023 (7).
● Crystal Palace haven’t won any of their first five games in the Premier League this season (D3 L2), the fifth time they’ve failed to do so in a single campaign in the competition. The Eagles have been relegated on three of the previous four occasions when failing to win any of their first five (1992-93, 1994-95 and 2004-05).
● United have drawn 0-0 in a higher percentage of their games versus Crystal Palace than against any other opponent in the competition of teams they have faced more than 10 times (16% – 5/31).
● United have kept four clean sheets in their last six Premier League games, one more than they managed in their previous 24 matches beforehand (three between December 2023-May 2024).
● Bruno Fernandes has had more shots without scoring (17) than any other player across Europe’s big five leagues in 2024-25, attempting a further four today without finding the net.
