Crystal Palace 0 Manchester United 0: Ten years on from Eric Cantona's studs-first leap into the crowd, it was Manchester United who got a kick in the teeth at Selhurst Park on Saturday. Their prospects of winning the Premiership have shaded from the highly improbable to the inconceivable now that Chelsea are eight points ahead, with a home game against West Brom in hand.
United knew what the evening outcome would be at Carrow Road and they were bad losers, even if they had actually drawn with Crystal Palace. The referee, Mark Clattenburg, was harangued by players and backroom staff, including the assistant manager Carlos Queiroz. Such tirades often come when a club is angriest with itself.
United were vapid and only made chances with any regularity once the Palace midfielder Vassilis Lakis had rightly been sent off for his second bookable offence after 64 minutes. That left the visitors with half an hour to score, but they wound up screeching in desperation.
Wayne Rooney, on as a substitute, appealed for a penalty when Emmerson Boyce did no more than brush his back. United also beseeched Clattenburg near the end but Fitz Hall seemed only to have slipped and any contact that his arm made with a Rio Ferdinand cut-back was inadvertent.
It is a sign of United's ineffectiveness that they poured their frustration into speculative appeals. Their single real grievance was the offside decision given against Roy Keane by a linesman when the side employed a meticulously rehearsed free-kick manoeuvre in the 21st minute.
Palace, who seldom attacked and never demanded a save from Tim Howard, had the calmness of a group with strictly limited ambitions who had been well prepared by Iain Dowie. Andy Johnson was even solicitous towards Rooney when he shepherded the already-booked teenager away from the referee as the sides left the field.
With this draw to set beside three wins in their last five matches at Selhurst Park, it was natural that Palace should be full of goodwill to all men. Despite the welter of bookings they were usually even-tempered.
"We actually said before the game to each other that if anything happens just keep smiling," left-back Danny Granville reported. "The more frustrated they get, the more it means you are getting under their skins. If people lose it then you know you're getting to them. You're a bit more in control then. That was part of our game plan as well: just keep calm and don't get involved in anything silly."
For United, Ferguson had to steer his players' minds on to tomorrow's Champions League match, where they will be aiming to retrieve a 1-0 deficit as they face Milan in the San Siro. Ferguson argued that Saturday's action would aid Ruud van Nistelrooy's recovery from his long lay-off.
If each miss brings the Dutchman closer to his best he ought to be on the verge of greatness after his anguished afternoon at Selhurst Park. He put a header too close to the excellent goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly, saw the Hungarian turn a low drive behind, and shot straight at him on another occasion. The striker, stretching, also sent a chance over the bar from six yards.
Rooney, for his part, had Kiraly beating away a deflected attempt in the 86th minute and Ryan Giggs then lifted the rebound on to the roof of the net.
All the same, Palace generally executed the plan that Dowie had drawn up. Though the midfielders carried out some man-marking, the back four stuck rigidly to their positions so that they were not led astray by the United attackers' constant switching of positions. It was to be Ferguson's side who lost their way.
