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Just when Ruben Amorim must have thought his luck would never turn. Somehow Manchester United managed to inflict Crystal Palace’s first home defeat in the Premier League since February and end their own five-year wait for a victory at this ground after a first half when their opponents should have been out of sight.
Oliver Glasner’s side had been rampant and deservedly took the lead through Jean-Philippe Mateta’s retaken penalty. But they could not make their dominance count and having failed to score a goal against Palace in their four previous league meetings that included three defeats, like the proverbial London buses, United struck back twice in the space of nine minutes through Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount to snatch the points.
It was a frustrating afternoon at the end of a long week for Glasner, who has been linked with United in the past and saw Ismaïla Sarr limp off with a concerning injury before half-time. His Portuguese counterpart may have kept his emotions in check as he headed down the tunnel immediately after the final whistle. But he must have been beaming inside after a much-improved performance that means United move above Palace into sixth place.
Amorim had played down comparisons between his and Glasner’s tactical approach in the buildup to United’s trip to south London, although he acknowledged that Palace “are just doing things better than us”. His response to the lacklustre defeat against 10-man Everton on Monday was to change both wing-backs, with Amad Diallo moving to the right flank as Diogo Dalot replaced Patrick Dorgu after Amorim said he felt anxious when the Denmark defender plays for United.
After their ultimately futile exertions against Strasbourg in the Conference League on Thursday night, Glasner challenged Palace’s players to go again as he reverted to his favoured Premier League lineup that is already running on fumes before the end of November. But while they could have wrapped the points up had they taken their chances, he will be concerned how drastically their levels dropped after falling behind.
United must have sensed an opportunity to profit given that they had three more days to prepare and almost went ahead after 43 seconds. A long throw caused chaos in the Palace area but somehow the former United goalkeeper Dean Henderson produced a point-blank save on his goalline to deny Casemiro.
The close shave served as a wake-up call for Palace after the early kick-off time that was dictated by the television schedulers. Soon the chances began to come thick and fast. After missing a hatful of chances on Thursday, it seemed like it might not be Mateta’s day when he twice dragged shots wide of the target inside the opening 15 minutes. The increasingly influential Adam Wharton also drilled a straight at Senne Lammens after a corner before the England midfielder was the architect of a brilliant flowing move that ended with a disappointing shot from Daichi Kamada.
But in a week when talks over Mateta’s contract extension have stalled, it was the France international who found the breakthrough. Another precise pass from Wharton lured Leny Yoro into the challenge and, having just made a brilliant block to deny Yéremy Pino, the 20-year-old could only bring down his compatriot inside the area. Mateta dispatched the penalty, only to be called back by the video assistant referee for an accidental double touch. A change in the laws in the summer now permits a retake if the original penalty is successful and Mateta made no mistake second time.
With Zirkzee hopelessly isolated in attack, United were powerless to respond and should have found themselves further behind at half-time. A last-ditch tackle from Luke Shaw blocked a shot from Pino before the substitute Eddie Nketiah dawdled when clean through on goal and the chance was gone.
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Henderson re-emerged in a baseball cap to shield his eyes from the low sun but he will be disappointed to have allowed United to equalise eight minutes after the restart. Palace were caught napping by a quick Bruno Fernandes free-kick and Zirkzee was able to chest the ball down and swivel in the same movement to produce a shot that sailed into the far corner. He and the travelling United supporters could barely believe their luck.
Having survived a goalmouth scramblewhere Zirkzee almost scored again at the wrong end, their afternoon got even better a few minutes later when the Netherlands forward was brought down on the edge of Palace’s box by Marc Guéhi. There was a moment’s hesitation in the defensive wall when Fernandes rolled the free-kick to Mount and that allowed him to beat Henderson with a powerful drive.
Without Sarr’s pace to call on, Palace could barely muster another chance as United were able to see out a crucial victory.
