Man Utd win amidst injury crisis.

Goals: Ward 66' - Lukaku 33', 52', Young 83'

Few people remember the last time Ashley Young was deployed in Manchester United's attack, as he has long been a default defender. However, amidst a wave of injuries that sidelined eight first-team players, the veteran Englishman was returned to his original position as a left winger. This change proved effective, with Young scoring the winning goal for Man Utd at the end of the match.

The victory at Crystal Palace helped Man Utd maintain their fifth position with 55 points, just one point behind Arsenal, who are above them in the table. They also maintained their unbeaten record under manager Solskjaer in the Premier League with 10 wins and one draw.

Manchester United went into the match against Crystal Palace with a long injury list including Ander Herrera, Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Phil Jones, Matteo Darmian and Antonio Valencia. Faced with this squad dilemma, manager Solskjaer decided to rest his preferred striker, Marcus Rashford, and deploy Lukaku as the furthest forward. The Belgian striker responded with a superb performance, scoring a goal in each half.

Lukaku opened the scoring for Man Utd with a curling right-footed shot that left goalkeeper Vicente Guaita with no chance. Lukaku's shot with his weaker foot came after Luke Shaw's run from the left wing into the penalty area. In the second half, Lukaku continued his impressive form with a powerful strike over Guaita from a tight angle following a corner kick.

Crystal Palace didn't give up after falling two goals behind. The home side made the game exciting in the final minutes with an equalizer from Joel Ward's header, following a precise cross from Jeffrey Schlupp. However, Palace couldn't secure a point as Ashley Young sealed the 3-1 victory with a decisive angled shot.

In the match against Palace, manager Solskjaer also used Fred and Scott McTominay. The expensive signing Fred had been in the starting lineup since the beginning of January. The Brazilian star had a somewhat uninspired start due to being on the bench for too long and lost possession several times. But Fred improved as the game progressed, with a passing accuracy of 84.5%, second only to center-back Victor Lindelof in this match.

Manchester United's biggest worry is Alexis Sanchez's continued disappointing performances. The Chilean forward started alongside Lukaku but failed to impress on the right wing. Sanchez, a key player, will need to improve his form if he doesn't want to be benched when Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial return.

Bao Lam