New season but it’s the same old United

THE irony surely wasn’t lost on Sir Alex Ferguson as he watched Wilfried Zaha, his final signing as manager, deliver an opening-day crisis for Manchester United.

Two-goal Crystal Palace hero Zaha was a victim of the turmoil that followed Ferguson’s departure.

Sitting in his mask three rows behind Ferguson, Ed Woodward’s eyes darted furiously.

For United’s executive vice-chairman knows better than anyone that United’s dismal display here will be pinned at his door.

That’s hard to argue against as all the old defensive failings have remained unaddressed.

Palace goalscorers Zaha and Andros Townsend exposed the flaws that still mean Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s stars are a million miles from challenging for the title.

Palace deserve all the plaudits for a superb victory that followed their opening day win against Southampton.

They were buzzing, vibrant and brilliantly organised back to front by Roy Hodgson, who said: “It was a good victory and well-deserved.

“Wilf is the same level of importance as all the players who make and score goals – Vardy for Leicester, Fernandes and Rashford for United, the new forwards at Chelsea.

“That’s where he is – he makes things happen and is scoring goals which is an extra bonus. I hope he can continue

TOO LITTLE: Van De Beek slots home what he’s doing for the club. He works hard to get in goalscoring positions and understands what he has to do defensively.”

The only crumb of comfort was a goal for Donny van de Beek. By then, though, United were trailing 2-0.

Solskjaer’s stars were simply sloppy. De Gea had no sooner presented Palace with possession after a poor clearance than he was picking the ball from his net.

Lindelof allowed Ayew to cross from the left and Townsend arrived quicker than Luke Shaw to fire a shot across De Gea and in off the post to give Palace a seventh-minute lead.

Slowly, United gained a foothold. They were denied penalty shout by VAR official Jon Moss when Pogba fell under a challenge from

James Mccarthy in the box.

Zaha had a goal ruled out for offside but United fell further behind with Martin Atkinson harshly penalising Lindelof for handling an effort by Ayew after taking a look at the pitch-side monitor.

Ayew’s weak spot-kick was saved by De Gea but VAR spotted the United keeper was off his line and ordered a retake with Zaha making no mistake.

Van de Beek executed a cool 80th-minute finish to give Solskjaer a glimmer of hope but Zaha snuffed it out with a superb third goal.