Crystal Palace 1 - 2 United

DDG

Bailly(Darmian) Jones Rojo Blind

Herrera Carrick

Mata(Lingard) Pogba Rooney

Ibrahimovic

Phew! Thought the game was destined to end in a draw but thankfully Ibrahimovic scored the winner late on after an excellent pass by our other scorer Paul Pogba. The game was characterised by a series of horrendous refereeing decisions that went both our way and against us but at the end of the day the best team won. United deserved the three points. 

My man of the match today is Paul Pogba as he managed to boss the game but Phil Jones should also get a mention as he barely put a foot wrong. His partner Rojo had a good game too but marred his display with a stupid two-footed challenge that should have sent him off. The ref decided to give Rojo a yellow card but it was the wrong decision. Bailly had a difficult time on the right and his replacement, Darmian, fitted in more naturally. Blind was very good and was the Man Utd player with the most interceptions. 

Carrick and Herrera did well but were overshadowed by Pogba in front of them. Paul made some brilliant passes and also scored our first goal. The goal should have never stood as Ibrahimovic used his hand (he just admitted in an interview) to pass the ball to Paul who was in an offside position. But I knew our luck would soon run out as has been the story so far this season. In the second half, the ref decided to overlook a clear handball that should have been a penalty for us and then the assistant referee cancelled a goal by Mata for an offside position. Mata was never offside. Very poor refereeing.

Roo had a half chance to equal Sir Bobby's record but it didn't happen for him. Mata passed the ball with great accuracy but we're now used to the speed of Mkhitaryan on the right so I am a bit disappointed with what Mata offered tonight. At the front I thought Ibrahimovic had a very good game. I must also congratulate DDG on yet another world-class save. What would we do without him?

A win was vital as all our close rivals won tonight. We need to get in that top 4 as soon as possible and, looking at our upcoming fixtures, I don't expect us to drop many points. Hopefully, by the time we play Liverpool in mid-January we'll be very close to them in that top 4. Obviously very happy tonight and delighted to see our players celebrate with so much passion at the end of the game. Well played, come on United!