Player Ratings: Man Utd 4-0 Crystal Palace

Manchester United were comfortable 4-0 winners over Crystal Palace at Old Trafford this afternoon to go top of the Premier League ahead of Manchester City’s trip to Chelsea this evening.

Crystal Palace have now lost all seven of their Premier League games without scoring a single goal.

Juan Mata put us ahead inside three minutes with a nice finish from around the penalty spot after excellent work from Marcus Rashford down the left.

We doubled our lead on 35 minutes when Marouane Fellaini volleyed home at the back post following another excellent Ashley Young cross.  The Belgian scored his second four minutes into the second half when he headed home Rashford’s free kick from close range.

Romelu Lukaku made it 11 goals in 10 games in all competitions for us with a tap in in the final five minutes.

Here are how our players fared today:

David de Gea 7

A quiet afternoon for David de Gea whose only test was a comfortable save at his near post from Bakary Sako in the first half.

Antonio Valencia 8

Kept Jeffrey Schlupp in check all game.  Antonio Valencia got forward to support attacks but never put any crosses into the box himself.

Chris Smalling 9

Aside from a penalty shout in the second half Chris Smalling was a rock at the back again as Crystal Palace were no threat to David de Gea’s goal today.  The defender also headed a free kick narrowly wide in the first half.

Phil Jones 9

Made a couple of good interceptions to break up attacks in a solid performance alongside Chris Smalling.

Ashley Young 8

Despite Andros Townsend seeing a lot of the ball he was absolutely no threat to Ashley Young just as we predicted on Friday.  Ashley Young provided a great cross for Marouane Fellaini’s first goal.

Nemanja Matic 7

A little more quiet than he has been most of the season but despite Crystal Palace playing three central midfielders.  Nemanja Matic didn’t have a huge amount of defensive work to do today.

Marouane Fellaini 9

Excellent performance from the Belgian who has still not conceded a goal when on the pitch this season.  Marouane Fellaini scored two goals from very close range, the first with a nice volley and the second heading home Rashford’s free kick.  Covered a lot of ground and won the ball back on several occasions for us today.

Juan Mata 8

Fine finish inside three minutes in an excellent performance from Juan Mata who was very creative today, picking the Crystal Palace defence apart.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan 5

Very sloppy in possession today and Henrikh Mkhitaryan was replaced by Jesse Lingard just after the hour.

Marcus Rashford 9

An excellent game down the left wing which saw Marcus Rashford tear Joel Ward apart for Juan Mata’s opener inside three minutes.  The 19-year-old saw an effort at the near post saved in the first half and it was his powerful free kick that Fellaini headed in for our third early in the second half.  Replaced by Anthony Martial for the final 20 minutes.

Romelu Lukaku 6

Looked sluggish and was perhaps tired after a busy run in the first time of late with few options for Jose Mourinho to replace him with.  Some poor first touches and missed an excellent chance in the final 20 minutes before finally getting on the scorehseet with a late tap in set up by Anthony Martial.

Substitutes

Jesse Lingard 5 – Replaced a quiet Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the final 25 minutes and barely got a touch himself.

Anthony Martial 7 – A lively cameo appearance as Anthony Martial came off the bench to set up a goal for Romelu Lukaku.

Ander Herrera 6 – The Spaniard only got 15 minutes but it was Ander Herrera who released Martial down the left wing which led to our fourth goal.