<p>LONDON — Manchester United was held 0-0 by Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Tuesday for a third straight goalless draw in all competitions for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s misfiring team.</p>
<p>A day after fierce rival Manchester City made it 21 wins in a row to open up a 15-point lead, second-place United was left frustrated again and has won only one of its last five matches in the league.</p>
<p>United has now gone 285 minutes without a goal heading into Sunday’s Manchester derby at Etihad Stadium, having also drawn 0-0 against Real Sociedad in the Europa League and against Chelsea in the league at the weekend.</p>
<p>“Disappointing,” Solskjaer said. “Just a little bit off. If you’re not spot on, you’re not going to win games. Palace are always a side that are going to make it hard for you.”</p>
<p>Goalkeeper David De Gea missed the trip to London due to personal reasons and it resulted in Dean Henderson being handed only his third league start this season.</p>
<p>In foggy and cold conditions, Henderson was called into action early, gathering two crosses with ease, while Christian Benteke volleyed over from a promising position for Palace.</p>
<p>Opposite number Vicente Guaita produced a fine save to deny Nemanja Matic’s deflected strike before Edinson Cavani poked over from the resulting corner with the opening exchanges end-to-end.</p>
<p>Marcus Rashford should have broken the deadlock soon after but he side-footed wide after Luke Shaw picked him out inside the area.</p>
<p>Suddenly, it turned into attack vs. defense, with Solskjaer’s men completely dominant, and Mason Greenwood had an effort deflected wide in the 23rd minute.</p>
<p>Palace was able to weather the storm but was indebted to right back Joel Ward on the stroke of halftime. Aaron Wan-Bissaka delivered a tantalizing ball across the face of goal and only a wonderful sliding clearance by Ward denied Cavani a tap-in.</p>
<p>With mist making visibility difficult in the capital, United — in its zebra kit — struggled and Andros Townsend fired wide in another warning to the away side early in the second half.</p>
<p>Solskajer’s options on the bench were limited, with Anthony Martial absent because of a minor knee injury, and frustration was building for the visitors as captain Harry Maguire and Rashford exchanged words.</p>
<p>Scott McTominay and Daniel James were summoned from the bench with time running out, the latter was surprisingly introduced in place of Cavani.</p>
<p>It saw Greenwood go down the middle and he curled over from 20 meters before Shaw sliced wide. There was still time for one more opportunity but it went to Palace.</p>
<p>Left back Patrick van Aanholt was played through but Henderson made a crucial save, ensuring United trailed City by 14 points with 11 league games left.</p>
<p>Palace extended its unbeaten run to three games with another dogged display and has kept five clean sheets since the turn of the year.</p>
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