Manchester United put in a thoroughly wretched performance as they lost to Crystal Palace for the first time in the Premier League era, going down 2-1 to Patrick van Aanholt’s stoppage time winner.
United dominated the early exchanges but offered precious little end product, and were punished for it when Palace took a surprise lead, scoring for the first time this season when Jordan Ayew ran on to Jeffrey Schlupp’s header and finished with supreme calm past David De Gea.
Frustrated for much of the afternoon, United had the chance to level just after the hour mark but Marcus Rashford saw his ferocious penalty thump off the inside of the post after Scott McTominay was tripped by Luka Milivojevic.
The Stretford End was cheering though when Daniel James curled in a delicious equaliser late on. And they were baying for a winner when Van Aanholt’s innocuous effort somehow slipped under De Gea for a famous win.
The scenes. #CPFC | #MUNCRY pic.twitter.com/Vx8SxSeL1n
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) August 24, 2019
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1)
David De Gea 5: Did little apart from pick the ball out of his net for Palace’s goal…until old issues reared their ugly head when he allowed Van Aanholt’s hopeful swipe to slip through his grasp.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka 5: Caught napping for the opener as he allowed Jordan Ayew to ghost in on goal. Struggled to shackle Wilfried Zaha and offered little in attack. His first poor outing in a red shirt.
Victor Lindelof 5: Easily outjumped by Schlupp for Palace’s opener. Otherwise won four aerial duels. Had little to deal with as Palace attacked infrequently.
Harry Maguire 6: Sent Rashford away with a defence-splitting through ball after expert interception. Commanding in the air, deployed as auxiliary left winger in second half as United pressed.
Luke Shaw 6: Started brightly with one lung-busting run. But niggling doubts resurfaced when he went off with a hamstring pull soon after.
Paul Pogba 5: Like Rashford, the talismanic midfielder endured a frustrating afternoon. Better after the break but little he tried came off. Dispossessed a team high four times and 80.5 per cent pass accuracy was woeful.
Scott McTominay 6: Ponderous once or twice. Boundless energy and diligence allows others – especially Pogba – to flourish. Took on a more attacking role after half-time and won the penalty.
Daniel James 7: Had United’s best first half chance but walloped his shot into Van Aahnholt. Shown another yellow card for diving. Again a poor decision. Persevered and pulled United level with a sumptuous curler into the top corner.
Jesse Lingard 5: Lack of creativity a problem in No10 role, although his hard running backwards (second most United tackles with two) and forwards, plus 88.2 pass accuracy (fourth best among United starters), won’t matter to the boo boys.
Marcus Rashford 3: United’s most potent player, the problem was nothing came off for the young forward. Nothing. Passing was poor and day summed up by smashing penalty off the post.
Anthony Martial 5: Intricate movement posed plenty of problems for Palace, Gary Cahill was lucky to remain on the field. But lack of end product showed he still needs to improve.
SUBS:
Ashley Young 7: Solid after replacing the seemingly paper-limbed Shaw. One nice flick over former United winger Zaha got him out of trouble. Telling he led team with five key passes.
Mason Greenwood 6: Ineffectual despite being given a good chunk of time. To be expected at only 17.
Juan Mata N/A: Thrown on as a last roll of the dice, a calm head if nothing else.
