Ibrahimovic late strike seals Man United win over Palace

CRYSTAL PALACE 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 2

Dec 14 ( Reuters) - Zlatan Ibrahimovic produced a brilliant finish two minutes from time to earn Manchester United a 2-1 Premier League win at Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

The Swedish striker latched on to a neat through pass from Paul Pogba to seal victory for United, adding to a controversial goal from Pogba just before halftime in which Ibrahimovic appeared to handle the ball.

James McArthur equalised for a ball-starved Palace in the 66th minute after he ran on to an audacious backheel from Damien

Delaney.   

United deserved their win, though, with Juan Mata having an effort wrongly ruled out for offside and they extended their unbeaten league run against Palace to 15 games to remain sixth in the table.

"It was very difficult but very deserved. In the first half we were in control. In the second half they had a little reaction and got the bonus of the goal and then we went into our best period of the game," United manager Jose Mourinho told the BBC.

"For 20 minutes we were almost unstoppable. Their goalkeeper made a magnificent save from Rooney's shot, we had Mata's goal, a penalty (appeal) and our goal. It was an amazing reaction and I am really pleased for the players."

(Reporting by John Geddie, Editing by Ed Osmond)