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30 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 NOVEMBER 2018 SPORTS FOOTBALL CRYSTAL Palace missed a host of chances as they left Old Trafford with a point following a 0-0 draw with a lack- lustre Manchester United in the Pre- mier League yesterday. Palace missed clear-cut opportunities in both halves; first, Patrick van Aanholt miscued an effort wide when one-on- one with David de Gea, while Andros Townsend did the same with 15 min- utes remaining after breaking into the box. Both sides also had the ball in the net as Cheikhou Kouyate and Romelu Lukaku saw goals correctly ruled out for marginal offside decisions, and the game ended with Palace feeling like they should have left with three points. The result means United are seventh, 14 points off leaders Manchester City, while Palace are up to 15th, a point above the drop zone. Both sides had plenty of chances dur- ing a goalless first half, with the best ar- guably falling to the visitors. Returning to his former club, Wilfried Zaha saw a 25-yard effort whistle past De Gea's right-hand post, before Van Aanholt fluffed a right-footed shot wide from 12 yards, having been put through in acres of space by Zaha. Jesse Lingard then forced a fine save from Wayne Hennessey at the other end, and Palace would have gone into the half ahead but for a fine decision from the assistant referee, flagging Kouyate offside having forced home Luka Milivojevic's free-kick. The officials made another fine call after the break, this time flagging Lu- kaku for being inches offside as he turned home Ashley Young's parried shot, while Kouyate had a shot from range tipped away by De Gea, only for Townsend to see his rebound blocked too. Palace should have won it through Townsend as he somehow piled his way through Nemanja Matic and Victor Lin- delof and into the area, but he flashed the ball wide with on weaker right foot with just De Gea to beat. Paul Pogba was replaced with 20 min- utes remaining as United pushed for a winner; Lukaku's header from a Matteo Darmian cross was well tipped away by Hennessey, and sub Marcus Rashford's shot was well blocked by James Tom- kins. It ended in jeers from the home fans as United failed to turn their superior possession into chances, leaving them with an uphill task to make the top four. United now host Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday night, before a trip to Southampton on Satur- day in the Premier League. Palace now host Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday. MANCHESTER City cruised to a 4-0 win against West Ham to stay top of the Premier League and keep their unbeat- en start intact. Pep Guardiola's team put in a ruthless display at the London Stadium and victory was as good as confirmed in the first half thanks to strikes from Da- vid Silva (11), Raheem Sterling (19) and Leroy Sane (34). Sane (90+3) rounded off an emphatic victory deep into stoppage time as City, who made it eight wins out of eight in all competitions, stayed two points clear of Liverpool, who beat Watford 3-0 at Vicarage Road, at the top of the Premier League. For Manuel Pellegrini, his first meeting against his for- mer side did not go to plan as West Ham stay 13th, four points ahead of the relegation zone. Silva sent City on their way with his fourth goal in as many games as Sterling's cross de- flected off Arthur Masuaku and into the path of the Span- iard, who had a simple finish to beat Lukasz Fabianski from close range. West Ham did threaten in at- tack but they lacked a cutting edge in front of goal as Marko Arnautovic and Michail Anto- nio wasted two good opportu- nities. They were made to pay when Sane burst past Pablo Zabaleta before driving the ball across goal for Sterling to tap in from close range. Sane himself added the third after being picked out by Sterling's cross. The German showed great composure in front of goal, feinting to shoot to take Fabian Balbuena out of the game before beating Fabi- anski from close range. Sterling went close to adding his second of the afternoon shortly after the break but Fa- bianski produced a fine block to deny the England interna- tional. At the other end, West Ham's poor finishing continued as Antonio, who was sent clean through by substitute Javier Hernandez, saw his shot clip the outside of the post. There were worrying signs for West Ham as Arnautovic limped off in injury time, leav- ing West Ham a man short for the final few minutes. And there was still time for City, who have now scored 17 goals in only four visits to Stratford, to add a fourth, Sane striking from close range to round off another comprehen- sive win in east London. United tame in draw with Palace Anthony Martial in action with Aaron Wan-Bissaka Pep Guardiola's side ease past West Ham to stay top Raheem Sterling celebrates after scoring for Manchester City