Manchester United 1, Crystal Palace 0
Fred was the hero for Manchester United as they got off to a winning start under interim manager Ralf Rangnick at home to Crystal Palace.
And their defence kept a clean sheet at Old Trafford for the first time this season.
Rangnick named an unchanged side from the one that beat Arsenal 3-2 last Thursday at Old Trafford.
United had the lion’s share of the possession in this game, with shots coming from all angles and players as they were came up against some organised defending by Crystal Palace.
Embed from Getty ImagesDavid De Gea saved early from Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha while Fred had a shot blocked on the line by James Tomkins and Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Alex Telles’ free kick came off the top of the crossbar as Palace started to looked comfortable with the Reds showing signs of running out of steam.
Just when Palace looked to have frustrated United, up popped Fred to break the deadlock after 77 minutes, unleashing a curling shot from outside the box to beat Vicente Guaita after he latched onto Mason Greenwood’s cutback.
Harry Maguire needed late treatment after a clash of heads with Odsonne Edouard but United managed to comfortably see out the win.
PLAYER RATINGS – Manchester United 1, Crystal Palace 0
David De Gea: 7. Saved early from Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha.
Diogo Dalot: 7. Sat deep when United went forward as extra insurance policy and did some useful defensive work against Wilfried Zaha, shot one over the bar when he did go forward though.
Victor Lindelof: 6. Often the deepest defender – the insurance policy who cleared deep crosses by Wilfried Zaha.
Harry Maguire: 6. Solid defensively in battle against Christian Benteke. Took a blow to the head late on/
Alex Telles: 7. Early shot for the full back who was encouraged to attack and also had a free kick come off the top of the bar.
Scott McTominay: 6. In a deeper role. Solid performance.
Fred: 8. Had a shot blocked von the line by James Tomkins. All action display in midfield saw him in the thick of it and he also came up with the winning goal – a screamer.
Jadon Sancho: 6. Shot deflected onto the roof of the net. Taken off midway through second half.
Bruno Fernandes: 6. Went for a diving header and also had a shot saved by Vicente Guaita but otherwise a quiet game by his standards.
Marcus Rashford: 6. Won a couple of early free kicks with direct running. Some good tricks too but little impact.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 7. Worked hard to silence the visiting fans, almost created a great goal for Bruno Fernandes with a cross in and had a shot saved by Vicente Guaita.
Mason Greenwood (on for Jadon Sancho, 62): 6. United switched to a more classic forward configuration but couldn’t make the break through.
Anthony Elanga (on for Marcus Rashford, 76): too late to mark
Donny van de Beek (on for Bruno Fernandes, 86): Got a late cheer when he came on.
GOAL – Manchester United 1, Crystal Palace 0
Man Utd 1, Crystal Palace 0: 77. Mason Greenwood cut the ball back to Fred whose 20 yard screamer beat Vicente Guaita all ends up.
MATCH STATS – Manchester United 1, Crystal Palace 0
Man Utd: De Gea, Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire, Telles, McTominay, Fred, Sancho (Greenwood 62), Fernandes (van de Beek 86), Rashford (Elanga 76), Ronaldo
Man Utd subs not used: Henderson, Bailly, Jones, Mata, Wan-Bissaka, Matic
Bookings: McTominay 79 (foul on Odsonne Edouard); Lindelof 90+1 (foul on Wilfried Zaha)
Goal: Fred 77
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Clyne, Tomkins, Guehi, Mitchell, Schlupp, Kouyate (Eze 84), Gallagher, J Ayew (Olise 84), Benteke (Edouard 67), Zaha
Crystal Palace subs not used: Butland, Milivojevic, Hughes, Mateta, Kelly, Riedewald
Bookings: Clyne 31 (foul on Fred); Guehi 67 (foul on Marcus Rashford)
Referee: Craig Pawson