MAN UNITED 1, CRYSTAL PALACE 0
A piece of Brazilian brilliance from Fred ensured a winning start for Manchester United’s new interim manager Ralph Rangnick.
The midfielder struck the only goal of the game, a spectacular effort, which defeated gritty Crystal Palace and lifted the Reds to sixth place in the table after they recorded back-to-back league wins for the first time since August/September.
Goals from 28-year-old Fred are a rarity as this was only his sixth in 133 appearances since his arrival in June 2018.
It provided the perfect start for Rangnick, the sixth German to manage in the Premier League, and the Reds’ fifth boss since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
There was a discernible change of tempo and high press from the Reds who never allowed Palace, who recently won at Manchester City, to settle into their stride.
If there was any criticism of the Reds, it was they failed to convert more of the 16 goal attempts they created as they never seriously troubled visiting goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnd defensively, United kept their first clean sheet in 15 home games in all competitions with Rangnick identifying defensive frailties which needed addressing.
He said: “I am very happy with the way the team performed, especially the first half hour, with the pressing, it was exceptional. The only thing missing was the 1-0 or 2-0.
“The way we defended, we had control of the whole game, the clean sheet was the most important part.
“These are the things we must improve. We need to keep clean sheets. With just the one training session, I was really impressed. We did much better than expected.
“We always tried to be on the front foot. We were never not apart from maybe the last five minutes. At all other times we were trying to keep them away from our goal.
“We wanted to play with two strikers, especially in the central position. By the way, Cristiano Ronaldo’s work off the ball, chapeau.”
[On Fred’s goal] “I had to ask my assistant coach if that was Fred’s right foot. I thought he could only shoot with his left. I’m happy for him.
“It’s always easier to build on things after you’re successful. We must produce further clean sheets and get better at creating chances for our attack. Overall, I was very pleased with the way we played today.”
Bruno Fernandes added: “We had to carry on with what we did in the last game against Arsenal.
“We are happy because we got the three points. The results could have been even better.
“Fred has these moments, one shot per year. Everyone is happy for him because he’s such a nice guy. He works a lot and people don’t talk about him. He deserves the praise.
“I think it depends on the game, sometimes you have to press more, sometimes less. But everyone knows the manager wants more pressing from us.
“The first 25 minutes was unbelievable, great tempo. We could have scored so many in the first half.
“We have to follow our new manager’s instructions. Now we go again to the Champions League.”
Palace, who had taken seven points from their previous four matches against United and manager Patrick Vieira thought they were unfortunate not to extend that impressive run of results.
They have picked up only one point in the last four games and Vieira said: “I thought the game would finish with a draw. Neither side created too many chances. When we had that chance with Jordan [Ayew] we didn’t take it. Against the big teams you get punished. In these games you have to score those.
“He’s a team player, he does fantastic work outside possession. But the forwards are judged by their number of chances and those goals they score. I’m really disappointed because he deserved to score today.
“I think we weren’t brave enough to play out the back. We were missing players today, there was a lack of confidence in possession. We didn’t allow ourselves to play.
“With their new manager we didn’t know how they would play. But we prepared with our shape. When you look at their chances, I think a draw would have been a fair result.
“It’s important to win football matches but at the same time you have to look at performances. We are really close. We have to take it on the chin, stick together and keep working.”
Rangnick, an observer from the directors’ box for Thursday’s home win against Arsenal, named an unchanged starting line-up seeing no reason to make changes.
It was an attack-minded Palace side which included Christian Benteke, Wilfried Zaha, Jordan Ayew and attacking midfielder Conor Gallagher.
Once again in the post Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Reds played at a far greater tempo and continued by pressing from the front.
In a lively opening, Alex Telles fired narrowly wide while Cristiano Ronaldo made an impact.
His free kick cleared the crossbar then he had a shot blocked by Nathaniel Clyne, headed over and fired low at goalkeeper Vicente Guaita as United dictated the opening quarter of the match.
Fred also head a goalbound effort headed off then goalline by James Tomkins and Bruno Fernandes forced a decent save low down by Guaita as it looked only a matter of time before the breakthrough came.
Jadon Sancho cut in from the left and his effort took a marked deflection as it looped up and landed on the roof of the net.
Then in first half stoppage time, Diogo Dalot cut in from the right and bent a shot just over the angle of upright and crossbar, their 12th goal attempt of the half, more than twice the combined total in Solskjaer’s last two games in charge.
United continued to press, though they struggled to carve out chances after the restart.
And just after the hour, Rangnick made his first change as Sancho made way for Mason Greenwood.
Marc Guehi was booked for a foul on Rashford. Telles took the free kick from wide right, swinging in a shot that clipped the top of the crossbar.
There was second change from the Reds with 14 minutes left as Anthony Elanga replaced Greenwood.
The visitors’ best chance of the game in the 75th minute came when Ayew fired wide from a tight angle when it looked as though he could not miss after James Tomkins headed Tyrick Mitchell’s corner back across the face of goal.
Palace’s stubborn resistance was finally broken with 13 minutes left from Fred, the only player to find the net in shooting practice pre-match.
Greenwood cut the ball back from the right for Fred to find the top corner with a superb side-foot finish from 22 yards. It was only the Brazilian’s second goal of the season, a surprise given the quality of his strike.
United made their last change with four minutes left when Donny van de Beek replaced Fernandes.