Palace stand firm to thwart United’s title hopes

CRYSTAL PALACE put a dent in Manchester United’s fast-fading title hopes with a defensive performance that even Alex Ferguson had to admire.

Iain Dowie’s side were reduced to 10 men midway through the second-half when Vassilis Lakis was handed his second yellow card by referee Mark Clattenburg but even that numerical deficit failed to unhinge Palace’s remarkable desire to keep a clean sheet against United.

When United threw on Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney in a last-ditch effort to engineer a crucial match-winner, the Palace rearguard held firm under intense pressure in the final 10 minutes.

One of the main reasons for Palace’s stubborn resistance was the presence of commanding centre-back Fitz Hall. He has been outstanding during a season when Palace have struggled to stay out of the relegation drop zone.

Much will depend on Palace’s battling qualities if they are to stand any chance of avoiding a drop back into the Championship but, based on this display, the Eagles have nothing to fear. They are now two points above Southampton at the foot of the table but Hall is already charting home games against Norwich and former club Southampton in April and May respectively as the ones that will go a long way to determining the outcome of their season.

Hall said: “If we keep doing our thing then nothing else will matter. The games against Norwich and Southampton at Selhurst Park will be a major factor in our season but we’ve got a good record at home and hopefully we’ll take the points.”

The Palace defence rode their luck with United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy squandering two gilt-edged chances in the closing stages while Gabor Kiraly kept them out with a string of fine saves.

Ferguson conceded that the result was a bad one for United and that it had already handed a big advantage to leaders Chelsea before Jose Mourinho’s men went on to beat Norwich 3-1 at Carrow Road.

That gave the Londoners an eight-point lead with a game in hand on United and even Ferguson must now realise that, barring one of the most amazing blips in form ever seen in the Premiership, the title is heading to West London for the first time in 50 years.

United and England defender Rio Ferdinand denied that United were not prepared to dig in and fight for all three points at Selhurst Park.

He admitted: “We expected a battle and a hard game. When you come to places like this, you don’t expect to get an easy ride. But we’ve been here before many times in this situation, so you expect that and try to go out there and do as well as you can to get the three points.”