By David Hobbs
March 5 2005

United missed the opportunity to close the gap on Premiership leaders Chelsea this afternoon following their goalless draw with 10-man Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The Red Devils struggled to create and convert chances, despite enjoying possession.

United Lose Ground in Title Race

Crystal Palace 0

Manchester United 0

Manchester United missed the opportunity to close the gap on Premiership leaders Chelsea this afternoon following their goalless draw with 10-man Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

United struggled to create and convert chances and paid the price for that with Premiership glory this season now looking increasingly slim. Palace's Vassilis Lakis was dismissed in the 2nd half.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side dominated the possession and not one of their 16 attempts in front of goal hit the back of Gabor Kiraly's net. The lack of Ruud van Nistelrooy's match fitness proving a pivotal reason for the stalemate.

Fergie raised some eyebrows with his team selection heading into the game, leaving Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes on the bench Quinton Forune and Phil Neville were included in midfield along with Ryan Giggs and skipper Roy Keane. 

Wes Brown took the place of the injured Gary Neville whilst Alan Smith started upfront. There was no room for Louis Saha in the 16-man squad as the Scotsman obviously had next week's Champions League clash with AC Milan in mind.

Sir Alex Ferguson was left ranting and raging on the touchline with the 4th official as he was infuriated with the linesman's decision to rule Roy Keane offside from a free-kick.

Soon after, Quinton Fortune hooked in a corner that met the head of Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Dutchman's powerful attempt came inches from turning into a goal, but Gabor Kiraly quickly parried away.

After a much needed interval, United swooped Quinton Fortune and Phil Neville off the pitch to replace them with Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo. Van Nistelrooy had another shot saved by Kiraly seconds later.

Vassilis Lakis was dismissed by referee Mark Clattenburg just after the hour mark, however, the Red Devils failed to take advantage of Palace's 10-men.

The quiet Alan Smith was then replaced by the fiery Wayne Rooney, who pressured the referee until the end of the match. Frustration was setting in.

As the clock ticked closer to the end, Ruud van Nistelrooy failed to convert two marvelous chances from inside the area. The striker fired at Kiraly from point-blank range before missing Wes Brown's flick-on.

Rooney could have stolen all three points with seconds left as a resiliant Kiraly denied United yet again. Ryan Giggs missed the rebound.

Final Score: Crystal Palace 0 - 0 Manchester United
Att: 26,021

Crystal Palace: G Kiraly, E Boyce, F Hall, G Sorondo, D Granville, W Routledge (65 G Borrowdale) , M Leigertwood, M Hughes, T Soares, V Lakis, A Johnson

Manchester United: T Howard, W Brown, R Ferdinand, M Silvestre, G Heinze, Q Fortune (56 P Scholes) , P Neville (56 C Ronaldo) , R Keane, R Giggs, A Smith (73 W Rooney) , R van Nistelrooy. Subs: C Ronaldo, W Rooney, R Carroll, P Scholes, J O'Shea

Refereed By: M Clattenburg