I saw what Ruud van Nistelrooy can do for Man United vs Crystal Palace - Erik ten Hag is desperate

Manchester United failed to end their winless run at Selhurst Park. Erik ten Hag couldn't push his side to continuing the goalscoring form of midweek into Premier League action. And once again supporters leave with more questions than answers.

It was one of those nights for the Red Devils. Undoubtedly a better performance and result compared to four months ago when Ten Hag left south London as a dead man walking, but bettering a 4-0 defeat is hardly the aspirations of a club which has spent billions of pounds to improve.

For much of this relatively entertaining 0-0 draw (it is likely to have triple the amount of big chances that Manchester City and Arsenal's blockbuster clash on Sunday will manage) United did look to have come on significantly. Even with Diogo Dalot at left-back and Christian Eriksen in a deeper midfield role, there was enough to gleem from a strong opening 45 that suggested the 3-0 victory over Southampton wasn't just a flash in the pan.

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However, much like they did against Chelsea prior to the international break, Palace stood resolute and remained in the match. Against the flow of proceedings they hit back themselves and caused issues for United as the evening went on.

The result leaves Ten Hag with seven points from five matches. Fans would be forgiven for questioning what sort of progress has been made given his previous two starts to a league season had just one less.

Here, MEN Sport takes a look at some of the finer points from the match.

A pivot with a twist

Such was United's territorial advantage, Kobbie Mainoo and Eriksen found themselves camping around the 'D' on Palace's box. At their best, the pair kept things flowing for United, moving the ball nicely to both flanks and offering good shape to retrieve when Oliver Glasner's team did try to launch a counterattack.

There was one brief lapse though. Taking aim (and the matters into his own hands after a series of high profile opportunities for his teammates went begging) Mainoo decided to fire in an effort from distance. On its way through to goal, via a powerfully struck shot, the ball inadvertently hit Eriksen, who had wandered near the penalty spot himself.

The Danish playmaker saw the funny side of things, although Mainoo looked less enthused. What it did show was just how far forward both of United's deeper midfielders were sat for much of the game though.

Van Nistelrooy calling

Of all the games where United would have benefited from having their assistant coach in his pomp on the pitch, this was the one so far. Chances came and chances went, that was hard to miss.

Specifically though, from set pieces in the first half United had such dominance it was a frustrating watch for Ruud van Nistelrooy on the sideline. He may have gobbled up Matthijs de Ligt's free back post header and would have backed himself to add the clinical touch elsewhere too.

Lisandro Martinez also found himself with a good chance inside the Palace box but couldn't convert. Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes found themselves in good areas from corners too but found no way to beat a determined Dean Henderson.

It was in the opening 45 that United's very chances missed demonstrated just where they need Van Nistelrooy to rub off. A killer striker in his day, it was the final shot and lethal instinct that lacked at Selhurst Park. Without that, Ten Hag can't do much more.

Ten Hag's tweaks

After starting the second half much like they had the first - albeit without quite as much cutting-edge play - United lost control of the game around the hour mark. It coincided with Ten Hag's first attempts to change things from the bench.

It was not that anything he had done up to that point wasn't working, more that United simply hadn't got the reward with a goal a lot of their play deserved. From the 60th minute onwards that changed though.

Rotated out from the starting XI after goals against both Southampton and Barnsley, Marcus Rashford replaced Joshua Zirkzee and ultimately failed to make much of a difference. Of the attackers, Zirkzee had been the quietest on the night, but the gamble to go with Rashford through the middle rather than Rasmus Hojlund did not pay off.

For 15 minutes between substitutes, United offered little in attack and started to leak shots themselves. It is telling that the first hour saw the shot counter 14-2 in their favour but the remainder of the game was 7-3 to Palace.

With less than 20 minutes to go, Ten Hag did turn to Hojlund. Perhaps needing to manage him so carefully that a quarter of the game would have been too much on his body, it shifted Rashford to the left. The changing of position didn't pay off though and Ten Hag's changes that may have seemed like a play to win the game only overlapped with where it got away from United.