A Romelu Lukaku brace and an Ashley Young strike secured a club-record eighth consecutive away win in all competitions for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side as Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park.
Solskjaer was forced to make three changes to the side that drew 0-0 with Liverpool on Sunday. Fred, Diogo Dalot and Alexis Sanchez came in for injured trio Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford, though the latter recovered enough for a place on the bench.
The Reds, resplendent in pink at Selhurst Park, had the first real opportunity inside the opening 10 minutes. Shaw’s excellent corner found Lukaku, who had lost his marker. The Belgian made good contact on the volley but his effort went just over the bar.
Palace responded with a near-miss themselves, Andros Townsend putting James McArthur’s low cross high and wide of David De Gea’s right-hand post from close range.
The Reds who took the lead just after the half-hour mark through Lukaku. Shaw, again the provider, skipped past Townsend and had the Palace defence retreating into the penalty box. The left-back laid the ball off to our no. 9 who sorted his feet out well on the edge of the area, had one touch to set, and then curled a precise effort into the bottom-right corner catching Vicente Guaita by surprise.
Townsend, renowned for scoring stunning long-range goals, was the hosts’ biggest threat. Creating space for himself just outside the area, he fired a low left-footed effort just wide before putting in a teasing cross for Jeffrey Schlupp, who couldn’t direct his effort on target.
SOurce:MU website