Perhaps it was simply that Palace had their forthcoming FA Cup semi-final in their minds, or perhaps United have belatedly rediscovered the knack of seeing off opposition like this in second gear. Either way, this was a comfortable night's work for the Reds, who managed to carve out ten shots on target and, when the second goal had gone in, see the game out in a pleasingly unfussy manner.
United were gifted an early goal when Delaney turned the ball past his own keeper when apparently under no pressure. It was the only goal of a first half in which United showed a level of comfort that's really been in evidence this season. Only Speroni, making a rare appearance in the Palace goal this season, prevented the Reds from going into the break with the match already in the bag. He denied Martial twice and kept out efforts from Rooney and Rashford to keep his side in contention despite United's dominance.
Rooney saw his effort from the edge of the area blocked early in the second half but the second goal wasn't long coming. When it did, it was a goal of some quality from an unexpected source, Darmian crashing the ball in off the post from just outside the box.
The Reds didn't exactly down tools from there but, when Rashford was withdrawn to a deserved ovation, his liveliness around the box was clearly missed and, although United stroked the ball around Old Trafford with ease, few further chances were created and the emphasis was clearly on seeing the game out.
And, given the imminence of our own FA Cup semi-final, that was entirely understandable. In the end, it was a composed performance from the Reds that keeps us on the shoulder of Arsenal and city in the race for those Champions League places. Job done; now on to Wembley.
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