Why Anthony Martial v Joel Ward Will Be Key Manchester United v Palace Battle

When Manchester United drew 0-0 at Selhurst Park in October 2015, Alan Pardew was full of praise for Anthony Martial. In his post-match press conference, he suggested that keeping Martial quiet was key to containing United’s attack.

Pardew said, “It was a big target for us to stop him, and we felt that if we could stop him, we could stop their creative angle.”

At the time, it seemed a fairly remarkable statement. The France international had only been at the club for a couple of months at that point and was still just 19 years old. As the season progressed, Pardew’s words seemed closer and closer to the mark.

Assuming the likely tactical setup comes to pass, the man tasked with stopping Martial at Saturday’s FA Cup final will be Crystal Palace right back Joel Ward.

When speaking about the game, Ward said, per Giuseppe Muro of the Evening Standard, “We know it is going to be a tough game. We are playing against Manchester United so it is never going to be easy.”

In truth, playing against Manchester United does not mean what it once did. In the last three seasons, they have finished seventh, fourth and fifth in the Premier League. But for Ward, the test will be on the kind of level faced by United’s opposition when the Red Devils were pretty much guaranteed to finish in the league’s top two every season.

Ward was absent when the two sides met at Old Trafford in April. That game fell on the Wednesday before the semi-final weekend. Palace were already safe from relegation and United enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 win, with the visitors clearly looking ahead to the weekend’s game. 

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