Crystal Palace left reeling by VAR in Manchester United loss as Wilfried Zaha shines and lack of depth exposed

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It was another night of frustration for Crystal Palace on Thursday as they slipped to yet another defeat at the hands of Manchester United.

The Eagles were competitive at Selhurst Park against a top-four chasing team now unbeaten in 19 matches, but goals in each half from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial condemned Roy Hodgson's side to a sixth successive Premier League loss.

A serious-looking injury suffered by defender Patrick van Aanholt compounded the misery for Palace, who sit 14th with difficult fixtures to come against Wolves and Tottenham before the season concludes.

Standard Sport's Jack Rosser was at Selhurst Park and looks at three key Palace talking points...

VAR leaves Palace reeling

VAR was not Crystal Palace's friend in their 2-0 defeat by Manchester United at Selhurst Park
Getty Images

“Is VAR broken? Serious question,” tweeted Palace chairman Steve Parish from the stands during half-time at Selhurst Park.

Little seems to have gone the way of Palace since the restart, and they were left fuming once more here in south London tonight.

Minutes before Marcus Rashford’s goal, Wilfried Zaha had burst through the United ranks, charging one-on-one at Victor Lindelof.

A step over seemed to have taken the winger past the United defender, until the two fell in a tangle and Palace cried penalty.

Graham Scott, the referee, quickly waved away any protest, but replays showed that the Eagles had quite the case, with Lindelof catching the back of Zaha’s ankle to send him into a tumble.

Stockley Park quickly checked the incident, with VAR Simon Hooper feeling there was a slight touch on the ball from the Swedish defender before he caught Zaha.

It was not perhaps a clear and obvious error, but that has never stopped decisions being meddled with in the past.

The offside decision, correct or not, against Jordan Ayew’s ‘equaliser’ will only have rubbed salt into the wounds - a goal denied by a margin that no linesman would ever spot with the naked eye.

Sterling effort undermined by lack of options

Roy Hodgson receives criticism for his substitutions, but Palace's squad lacks quality in depth
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Everyone at Palace knows they have a big summer coming if they are to push on next season.

Hodgson spent part of his pre-match press conference explaining why, should the decision be put to a vote before next season, he will oppose the extension of the five-subs rule.

It is clear to see why. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had a depth of quality to send on and kill off a game in which, aside from a couple of sparks of quality from Rashford, they fell well short of their best.

Hodgson can barely manage three decent introductions at the moment. The former England manager takes a lot of criticism from supporters over his reserved use of substitutions, but it is easy to see why he doesn’t change too much.

Bar Jeffrey Schlupp, in a matchday squad for the first time since December after injury, there is little inspiration on the Palace bench.

The Eagles - with nothing to play for - battled tirelessly to get themselves back in the game but Hodgson had very little to throw on and aid their push.

A top-ten finish is the target next season. Nights like this make it abundantly clear why they need more to achieve that and also underline quite what a good job Hodgson has done with this squad this term.

Zaha shines again

Wilfried Zaha impressed against his former club after a difficult week
PA

It has been a difficult season for Wilfried Zaha. He started out of form having failed to secure a dream move to Arsenal last summer, with a switch to Everton also failing to materialise.

The Palace talisman of seasons past struggled to really get going and justify his talk of a move to a Champions League club, hardly making a case for anyone to meet Palace’s asking price of £80million.

That is trivial compared to his battles this week, when he revealed the racist abuse he gets sent on social media and took Twitter and Instagram to task over those who can hide behind anonymous accounts and spout such vile messages at him on a daily basis.

To continue to play and perform is a testament to his character.

On the pitch, while results haven’t gone his way since the restart, Zaha has found his spark again.

The winger capped a fine performance against Chelsea with a blinding long range strike and here, against his former club, he was a livewire once more.

It could so easily have been his flashes of brilliance which decided this contest instead of Rashford’s.

Whether, in this market, anyone could still be convinced to meet Palace’s price tag is another question, but Zaha is hitting form at just the right time should desires regarding a higher challenge still be there.

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