Manchester United 0, Crystal Palace 1
Joachim Andersen’s stunning first half strike was all that Crystal Palace needed to beat Manchester United in their Premier League encounter at Old Trafford.
The Reds now lie 10th in the Premier League after a second successive home defeat in the league and Reds boss Erik Ten Hag now has an unenviable five defeats in nine games in all competitions this season, and with four defeats in seven league games their worst start to the league since 1986/87.
Crystal Palace had folded with barely a whimper at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday but an altogether tougher group of players faced the Reds in the Premier League on Saturday.
Marc Guehi went close before Sofyan Ambrabat fouled Jordan Ayew and Eberechi Eze swung in a free kick which was half cleared by Rasmus Hojlund before Joachim Andersen swung his boot at the loose ball and his half volley flew inside the back post beyond the reach of Andre Onana.
United created little, with Hojlund denied on the line by Tyrick Mitchell while Casemiro was just wide with a 25 yard effort as Crystal Palace were hardly troubled by them.
Anthony Martial and Christian Eriksen were brought on for Mason Mount and Marcus Rashford with 13 minutes to go but with 3 minutes to go both Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof were taken off with Harry Maguire and Donny van de Beek coming on but the Eagles held out for victory and a swift revenge for their midweek defeat at Old Trafford.
Embed from Getty ImagesPLAYER RATINGS – Manchester United 0, Crystal Palace 1
Andre Onana: 6. Did not get many touches of the ball but saved from Will Hughes in the second half.
Diogo Dalot: 6. Great cross into the area, just too close to Sam Johnstone. Couldn’t get on the end of many cross field balls from Sofyan Ambrabat. Laid on a great chance for Mason Mount which was wasted.
Raphael Varane: 7. Beaten by Jeffrey Schlupp but got the better of Jean-Phillipe Mateta as Palace looked for holes in the United defence.
Victor Lindelof: 6. Part of a defence that played a high line. Could not stem the flow of Crystal Palace attacks through the porous back line.
Sofyan Amrabat: 6. Comfortable in a defensive role but also pushed into midfield where he was caught out by Jordan Ayew. Crossfield switch balls were poor. Hit the crossbar but the whistle had already gone.
Casemiro: 5. Still looks off the pace in midfield. Had to foul Jordan Ayew after Sofyan Ambrabat was robbed. 25 yard pot shot went wide as did an overhead kick.
Bruno Fernandes: 7. Roamed around in midfield, even did some tackling, but his passes went to waste. Pushed closer to Rasmus Hojlund after the break but not enough went right for him.
Mason Mount: 5. Pushed wide on the left at times to try and fill spaces and got closer to the left after the break. Headed over the bar with the goal at his mercy after a cross by Diogo Dalot.
Facundo Pellistri: 5. Didn’t get much change from Tyrick Mitchell and slow to react when Bruno Fernandes found him late in the first half.
Marcus Rashford: 5. Twinkle toes took him close to the Palace goal but he was blocked at the last tackle by Marc Guehi. Didn’t help with pressing though and United’s left flank was too exposed at times. Switched to the right flank when Alejandro Garnacho came on.
Rasmus Hojlund: 6. Starved of service. He was denied on the line by Tyrick Mitchell after he thought he had scored. Unlucky with the defensive clearance that was lashed in by Joachim Andersen. Had a second half header palmed away by Sam Johnstone and a late penalty claim turned down.
Alejandro Garnacho (on for Facundo Pellistri, 61): 6. Had a chance soon after coming on and a golden shot in injury time went wide.
Anthony Martial (on for Mason Mount): No time to mark
Christian Eriksen (on for Marcus Rashford): No time to mark
Harry Maguire (on for Raphael Varane, 88): No time to mark
Donny van de Beek (on for Victor Lindelof, 88): No time to mark
TEAM NEWS – Manchester United 0, Crystal Palace 1
Erik Ten Hag made four changes from the team that eased past Crystal Palace in midweek.
Harry Maguire, Hannibal Mejbri, Alejandro Garnacho, and Anthony Martial stepped down.
In their place Victor Lindelof, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, and Rasmus Hojlund came into the side to face the Eagles.
Sam Johnstone regained his place in the starting lineup after injury to Dean Henderson.
GOALS – Manchester United 0, Crystal Palace 1
Man Utd 0, Crystal Palace 1: 25. Joachim Andersen opened the scoring with a half volley past Andre Onana from 10 yards out after a headed clearance by Rasmus Hojlund from Eberechi Eze’s free kick fell to him.
MATCH STATS – Manchester United 0, Crystal Palace 1
Man Utd: Onana, Dalot, Varane (Maguire 88), Lindelof (van de Beek 88), Amrabat, Casemiro, Fernandes (C), Mount (Martial 77), Pellistri (Garnacho 61), Rashford (Eriksen 77), Hojlund
Man Utd Subs not used: Bayindir, Evans, McTominay, Hannibal
Booked: Casemiro 10 (foul on Jordan Ayew); Mount 77 (foul on Joachim Andersen); Amrabat 79 (handball)
Crystal Palace: Johnstone, Ward (C), Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Doucoure, Hughes, J Ayew, Schlupp (Riedewald 78), Eze (Richards 88), Mateta
Crystal Palace Subs not used: Matthews, Holding, Clyne, Ebiowei, Oak-Sakyi, Ozoh, Ola-Adebomi
Booked: Hughes (foul on Mason Mount) Ward 45+3 (foul on Marcus Rashford)
Goal: Andersen 25
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
Attendance: 73,428