Manchester United extended their home run to six consecutive wins, as Louis Van Gaal made three changes from the side that beat Aston Villa on the weekend.
LVG made the right choice in rotating the line-up, especially just a few days before facing Everton in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
The Red Devils closed the top-four gap down with another win, which leaves them two points behind noisy neighbours Manchester City.
Van Gaal’s side have also increased the pressure on Arsenal, as the win leaves them one point behind the North London side before Arsene Wenger’s side play West Brom on Thursday.
Here are three things we learned from United’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace:
Old Trafford turning into a fortress again
It’s been a long time since the visitors have been scared to visit United’s turf. After the Sir Alex era a lot of teams have found it very normal to come to Old Trafford and take something away from the match. But Louis Van Gaal seems to be bringing that fear factor back.
United have picked up the most points at home this season compared to other 19 teams in the League, the Red Devils have picked up 37 points out of 51 and have lost just on two occasions throughout the whole campaign.
It’s a shame they can’t replicate this in their away games, which has been a big reason why United are not currently in the top four.
Home fans had enough
Despite the solid home results, there were a lot of empty seats during the Palace game. Many have claimed on social media they won’t return to Old Trafford until Van Gaal is out of the club.
The club have also delayed the season ticket renewal, clearly sensing a managerial change might be coming which can make the fans more likely spend money.
Empty seats could be a warning notice for Ed Woodward and the Glazers. Fans expect more from the club and want to see a change that will help United progress.
It will be another embarrassing season for United if they don’t finish in the top four, which could force the board to have no option but to sack Lan Gaal, which the majority of fans want.
United not finishing off their chances
The manager fielded a surprising line-up, only playing one holding midfielder in Morgan Schneiderlin. This gave a positive vibe to the United fans. With the line-up being perfect for once, the fans were finally expecting an entertaining game.
This time the players let the fans down, not the manager.
United created nine chances and completed 16 shots – definitely one of their most attacking performances of all season. Unfortunately, United managed only two goals, one of them was an own goal from Damien Delaney.
On a positive note, the opponents only created three chances and had just one shot on target, so it was an impressive match from United, but the end product should have been better.
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