Manchester United and Erik ten Hag’s home wins continue as they displayed another beautiful performance against Crystal Palace in a 2-1 victory. It was certainly a favourable day for the fans as they went into the game with lots of positivity after securing the final place in the Carabao Cup with Newcastle United.
United were on the front foot right from the beginning, creating chances and maintaining possession. It was Bruno Fernandes who opened the scoring for Manchester United from the penalty spot. Palace’s Hughes was involved in the handball decision in the opening 8 minutes of the match. They seemed to be cruising. New signing Weghorst almost doubled the lead with his powerful header. But a wonderful save by Guaita denied the effort from the Dutch forward.
Palace has survived United’s pressure after falling behind and were growing into things a little themselves. They barely touch the ball in the first half. Manchester United’s spine has kept things simple and composed. Martinez showed yet another top-class performance in the backline.
Antony’s curler with his right foot almost went to the back of the net in the 28th minute. Fernandes was very sharp in the midfield yesterday afternoon. His long balls and forward play looked really impressive and this really threatened Palace, especially in the 1st half.
2nd half Analysis: Manchester United were down to ten men.
If the 1st 25 minutes of the 2nd half were majestic then the last 20 minutes were equally nervy for United.
Guess who doubled the lead for the Reds? It’s none other than the man in sensational form, Marcus Rashford who simply cannot stop scoring for United. It was another brilliantly built-up move for the second goal. It was a kind of goal where almost every United player was involved in the build-up.
Two minutes playing as the number 9 and Rashford found his 10th goal in the League. Courtesy of a clever assist from Shaw through the legs of Ayew.
Soon the joyful moment tuned into a panic for United. The heart of midfield, Casemiro was involved in heated arguments. He was shown a direct red card after a controversial VAR decision. Casemiro grabbed Hughes by the neck and so the VAR is checked for a possible red card for violent conduct.
Schlupp found a way to come back to the game for Crystal Palace with an intelligent flick assisted by Doucoure. All of a sudden United were on the ropes with a man down, but also looked confident in defence.
ETH made few tactical chances. He brought in Lindelof and Maguire which meant all 4 centre backs were on the pitch. And made sure the three points would be intact. Another positive point was Sabitzer who showed why he was brought in by Erik ten Hag. He is a great presser of the ball.
The fans had a sigh of relief when the final whistle was blown after SEVEN minutes of additional time. With this win, Manchester United face Leeds United at Old Trafford in back-to-back Roses derbies.
