United edge 10-man Palace
London - Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney scored to lift
Manchester United to a patchy 2-0 home win over 10-man Crystal Palace on
Saturday with a workmanlike display that will have done little to worry
their Premier League title rivals.
Having failed to find the net
in the their last two games, relief echoed around Old Trafford when Van
Persie converted a controversial penalty on the stroke of halftime for
his third goal of the season.
Referee Jon Moss pointed to the
spot and sent off Palace defender Kagisho Dikgacoi for bringing down
Ashley Young at Old Trafford, but replays showed the initial contact had
been well outside the area.
United, who had seen two earlier
penalty appeals waved away, struggled to build any momentum despite
dominating possession and took until the 81st minute to double their
advantage.
Rooney, wearing a thickly wadded headband after
sitting out their last Premier League game and two internationals with a
cut head, curled in a free kick from 25 metres to make the game safe.
New
signing Marouane Fellaini started on the bench but joined the fray in
the second half and his combative presence helped to contain Palace's
limited ambitions on the break.
Yet there was little urgency from
United to kill off the match and while Palace were there for the taking
the champions seemed content to push and prod, but rarely committed
numbers to the attack.
The result helped United paper over a poor
start to the season and moved them up to seven points from their
opening four matches. Promoted Palace have three.
Having recently
been fined and given a touchline ban for criticising the referee in
their opening match against Tottenham Hotspur, Palace manager Ian
Holloway was reluctant to comment.
"My opinion doesn't count because the result is the result and I have just got to deal with it," he told BT Sport.
"I
literally can't afford it so I can't say a word (about the penalty and
sending off) and let everyone else judge it. He (the referee) has a
difficult job to do though especially at Old Trafford which such a noisy
partisan crowd."
The three penalty shouts dominated the story of the first half.
Evra
was the first to be disappointed as he went down under a challenge from
Mile Jedinak in the area after only eight minutes with the referee
deciding there was minimal contact, before Young was booked for diving
10 minutes later.
The England wideman, who has gained a
reputation for theatrical falls, tumbled under the challenge of
Dikgacoi, with replays suggesting he had sought out contact with the
Palace defender's planted leg.
United's performance in the early
stages was lacking punch, but with Palace encamped in their own half and
content just to pull up the drawbridge and hope for the best there was
little potential for a shock.
The visitors' only real chance came
courtesy of a mistake from Rio Ferdinand. He let a long ball drift over
his shoulder and Dwight Gayle stole in behind him before chipping his
finish wide.
United broke the deadlock two minutes before the
break, getting the benefit of the referee's doubt as Young drove forward
and was brought down by Dikgacoi.
Moss took his time deciding
whether the offence had taken place in the area, consulting his
assistant before pointing to the spot and producing a red card.
Van
Persie, who had smacked the top of the crossbar minutes earlier with a
volley, calmly rolled his penalty into the bottom corner.
Fellaini,
signed for 27.5 million pounds ($43.6 million) on deadline day, came
off the bench in the middle of the second half with the tempo having
drained out of the encounter.
After some neat early touches he
almost found the net with a dipping volley from distance that tested the
Palace keeper, but the better part of his contribution was helping
subdue Palace's limited threat with his physical presence.
United had half chances to add to their advantage before Rooney's perfectly placed free kick secured the points.
