This archive report was first published on 17 July 2020.
Manchester United Keeps Champions League Hopes Alive with Win Over Crystal Palace ¶
Manchester United's top-four hopes received a significant boost as they secured a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on July 16, 2020.
The victory, which was sealed by goals from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, sees United move to 62 points, level with Leicester City who beat Sheffield United earlier.
With two rounds of matches remaining, the race for Champions League football is set to go down to the wire, with United, Leicester, and Chelsea all in contention.
Palace, who had some early chances courtesy of Wilfried Zaha, struggled to dominate the game due to United's high pressing, but they were made to pay at the stroke of half-time courtesy of Rashford's sublime goal.
The England forward combined beautifully with Bruno Fernandes, who fed him a devastating ball into the box for the forward to classily slot home.
Palace thought they had equalized early in the second half after Zaha whipped a low cross across the face of goal to be met by Jordan Ayew at the far post, but the Video Assisted Referee ruled it out for offside.
The next goal in the game was going to be the one which decided the outcome of the match, and it came for the visitors through Martial, who benefited from a brilliant passage of play involving Fernandes and Rashford.
The Frenchman latched onto a through ball from Rashford to slot home his 22nd goal of the season, although it came at a cost as he swept Palace defender Patrick Van Aanholt en route to scoring.
