Mourinho knows he’s got big issues, but at least this United team is packed with fighting spirit...
VISITS to relegation-threatened sides have caused United as many problems this season as a trip to a title rival.
Stoke, Huddersfield and Newcastle have taken points off United in the process, Championship high-flyers Bristol City even knocked them out of the Carabao Cup in December.
So after that encouraging win against Chelsea, a trip to Selhurst Park was the perfect test to see how far United have come as they look to rediscover the consistency and momentum they can take into next season’s title race.
And, yet, it was United who shot themselves in the foot. Twice.
Eight of Andros Townsend’s 14 league goals have come from outside the area and you can bet the pre-match dossier United’s players were handed last week drew attention to that and the importance of closing him down. It didn’t happen.
Then, for the second, United were still sleeping after the break when Jeffery Schlupp caught them unawares with a quick free-kick to play in Patrick van Aanholt.
But, encouragingly, their heads never went down. Firstly, Chris Smalling’s header came from a corner and that, unusually, has been something of a rarity under Mourinho. Indeed, there have been countless corners which have failed to beat the first man.
United took heart from that – and a number of Palace players collapsing to the floor with cramp – and showed some overdue fight. It would have been easy, at 2-0 down,
to start pointing fingers but United rallied. Each of their three substitutes epitomised that spirit despite their obvious disappointment at not starting. Just imagine how Luke Shaw, who has made just three league starts in 2018, felt when the team sheets were handed in at 6.55pm?
When Shaw and Juan Mata came on midway through the second half, only two United players, Smalling and Victor Lindelof, had defined positions. The rest roamed and floated at will as they pushed for an equaliser. And it paid dividends.
For the second game running, Romelu Lukaku stepped up and did what Didier Drogba often did for Jose Mourinho – deliver at a decisive moment. Last week, it was with a goal and an assist against the champions, this time it was an equaliser when the chips were down.
Of course, Lukaku loves playing against sides in the bottom half but the composure he showed in the 76th minute was remarkable.
There is not much you can say about Nemanja Matic’s stunning winner, his first goal for the club, but to have the belief and confidence to take on that shot at the death says a lot about the mentality of this squad.
No team wants to go 2-0 down, but United are finally putting some comebacks together when they matter most.
Issues still remain. How did United even get themselves in this mess? How can Mourinho get the very best out of his two best players, Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez? And how does he approach Saturday’s game against Liverpool? For now, at least, those questions can wait.
Mourinho now has a team that will fight until the bitter end for him.