Chris Smalling has admitted that Manchester United benefited from an early goal during tonight's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.

It was a relatively comfortable outing for the hosting Red Devils, who broke the deadlock in just the fourth minute when Palace defender Damien Delaney turned the ball into his own net.

Reflecting on that moment, United centre-back Smalling conceded that it made a telling difference.

"We can control a lot of the games at Old Trafford, but we sometimes find it tough to break teams down," he told MUTV.

"Getting that early goal, you can see from the amount of chances we created after that, it made the difference."

The victory has moved United to within a point of fourth-placed Arsenal.