London, Feb 2: Manchester United suffered their fifth home defeat in six Premier League games as Jean-Philippe Mateta’s second-half double gave Crystal Palace their fourth victory in six seasons at Old Trafford.
Premier League
As Marcus Rashford prepares to leave for Aston Villa, United head coach Ruben Amorim chose to leave out £100m-worth of attacking talent in Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee and instead use Kobbie Mainoo as a false nine.
Despite a bright start, the experiment didn’t work and Palace were looking dangerous before Eberechi Eze, who was supposed to be missing the game due to a foot injury, came on as a substitute and floated an excellent 64th-minute free-kick deep into the penalty area.
Maxence Lacroix’s header came back off the bar but with Andre Onana at full stretch, the Cameroon international keeper was unable to prevent Mateta turning the bouncing ball into an empty net.
Mateta took his Premier League tally to 10 for the season – and six in five games – when he tapped home Daniel Munoz’s low cross in the final minute.
A disappointing day got worse for the hosts as central defender Lisandro Martinez was stretchered off in tears after suffering what appeared to be a serious knee injury following a tangle with Ismaila Sarr.
The result meant Palace have won three successive Premier League away games for the first time since 2019 and extended their recent impressive recent record away from Selhurst Park. Oliver Glasner’s side have now collected 16 points on their travels since the beginning of December, more than any other top flight side.
United meanwhile slipped back to 13th place, having still failed to record successive league wins under Amorim.United have also now lost seven of their first 13 home league matches this season – their joint-most at this stage of a league campaign and matching a mark set in 1893-94.Martinez injury compounds Man Utd miseryThe unveiling of £25m signing Patrick Dorgu and teenage defender Ayden Heaven before kick-off was meant to signify a new future at Manchester United.
Rashford’s departure, in addition to that of winger Antony and, possibly, Dutch full-back Tyrell Malacia, are further indications of change.
Yet it has been apparent for some considerable time it will take far more to turn United into a winning team.Amorim’s decision to utilise Mainoo as his most significant attacking weapon does not indicate a great deal of faith in Denmark striker Hojlund, who has not scored since mid-December, or Zirkzee, who has found the net only four times since his summer arrival from Bologna.
However, even with Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho foraging either side of the England midfielder, there was not much to write home about once Mainoo had struck a post in the early moments.
Bruno Fernandes was not a threat in his deeper role and the longer the game went on, the less convincing United became.
The loss of Martinez just compounded another bad day for Amorim and means Dorgu is likely to be thrust into action pretty quickly as Luke Shaw is only just back in training after just three substitute appearances in 12 months since his last club start – and none since 1 December.
It seems bizarre to recall that after eight games this season, Palace had just three points and there were genuine fears they were in for a prolonged relegation scrap.
Those concerns have proved unfounded as they edged up the table to 12th and within striking distance of successive top 10 top-flight finishes for the first time since the 1990s. (Agencies)