ONLY WATCH ON IN ZAHA STEALS SHOW
An interval lead for Palace persuaded Solskjaer to introduce Greenwood off the bench in place of the ineffective Daniel James.
Leaving England’s teenage star out of his starting line-up should not be interpreted as a disciplinary move. Indeed Solskjaer had attempted to pin the blame for Greenwood’s indiscretions in Reykjavik on Gareth Southgate for taking him to Iceland with England in the first place.
The logic presumably was that if Greenwood had not been in the England bubble he couldn’t have burst it but if duty of care for a manager extends that far then Southgate wouldn’t have any players at all. Greenwood, as he acknowledged in his full and frank apology afterwards, had only himself to blame for his expulsion from the national squad and Solskjaer’s wilful misdirection did neither party any favours.
His arrival pepped up United’s attack a little when he cut in off the right but he was unable to create much in the way of shooting space.
When he did find himself some room just before the hour he was unable to capitalise on Timothy Fosu-mensah’s cross with his head, putting a glorious opportunity to equalise wide.
United paid a heavy price for his miss. The penalty shenanigans allowed Palace to double their lead and though new signing Donny van de Beek came on to pull one back on his debut, Zaha finished them off in the 85th minute.
For United it was a horror start which will only add to the pressure to bring in more new signings before the transfer window closes.
The one consolation for Greenwood and Maguire was that the bad news yesterday was on the back pages, not the front.
FIRST BLOOD: Andros Townsend fires home to give Palace the lead