United stay in hunt, Liverpool win

Manchester United kept the pressure on the top four with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, while Liverpool secured bragging rights on Merseyside by thrashing Everton 4-0 on Wednesday.

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They didn’t move up the Premiership table, but Manchester United kept the pressure on the top four with a convincing 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Liverpool secured bragging rights on Merseyside by thrashing a 10-man Everton 4-0 at Anfield.

In Manchester, Palace had the worst possible start when defender Damien Delaney inexplicably turned the ball into his own net from an innocuous Matteo Darmian cross.

With no United attacker close to him, Delaney “scored” with quite a strong shot past Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni to put the Red Devils ahead.

The goal seemed to make United relax a bit more and they settled into a good rhythm, with Daley Blind particularly dangerous down the left as he combined well with young striker Marcus Rashford.

Juan Mata was also a constant threat through the middle for Louis van Gaal’s outfit, and had two opportunities within the first 10 minutes.

French striker Anthony Martial didn’t see much of the ball in the early exchanges, but once he got into the game, he gave the Palace defence some heart-stopping moments.

Martial’s best chance came just before halftime as he showed good pace to get into the box and fired in a rising shot, but Speroni dived well to his left to get a good hand on it and deflect the ball away.

United dominated most of the opening 45 minutes, and the likes of Antonio Valencia, Rashford and Jesse Lingard were all on goal, but couldn’t find the net.

Argentine veteran Speroni kept the Eagles in the game with a further stop after the break from Blind, but he couldn’t deny Darmian in the 55th minute.

The ball squirted out from a United corner to the edge of the penalty area, and the Italian fullback chested the ball down expertly before pulling the trigger with a brilliant volley that sailed into the top right-hand corner.

That knocked the stuffing out of Alan Pardew’s men, as Martial and Rooney went close again, before Speroni produced an unbelievable double block to hold out Lingard and Rashford.

Captain Rooney had one more chance in the 71st minute, but he couldn’t get past the Speroni wall.

But Van Gaal will be pleased that his team got the job done as they are now just a point behind fourth-placed Arsenal, who will play their game in hand on Thursday night against West Bromwich Albion in London.

United will also have the necessary confidence going into Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Everton at Wembley, particularly after Roberto Martinez’s team suffered a drubbing in the Merseyside derby at Anfield on Wednesday.

Divock Origi opened the scoring for Jurgen Klopp’s side in the 43rd minute, with further strikes by Mamadou Sakho, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho taking the Reds to 54 points after 33 games in seventh place.

They are just two behind West Ham – who have played an extra game – after the Hammers put Watford away 3-1 at Upton Park. Andy Carroll got the breakthrough in the 11th minute for the home side, and Mark Noble converted two penalties as well to keep Slaven Bilic’s charges in sixth.

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@IndyCapeSport

Wednesday’s Results

West Ham 3 (Andy Carroll 11’ Mark Noble 45’pen, 53’pen) Watford 1 (Sebastian Prodl 64’)

Manchester United 2 (Damien Delaney OG 4’ Matteo Darmian 55’) Crystal Palace 0

Liverpool 4 (Divock Origi 43’ Mamadou Sakho 47’ Daniel Sturridge 61’ Philippe Coutinho 76’) Everton 0

Premiership Top Six

1 Leicester City – Played: 34, Points: 73

2 Tottenham Hotspur – Played: 34, Points: 68

3 Manchester City – Played: 34, Points: 61

4 Arsenal – Played: 33, Points: 60

5 Manchester United – Played: 34, Points: 59

6 West Ham United – Played: 34, Points: 56