United in VAR fury
Summer of turmoil extends to pitch for United as Zaha scores twice to haunt old club
MANCHESTER UNITED’S close season from hell followed a trail of destruction and misadventure that t ook t hem from a j ail cell in Mykonos to a room at the Radisson Blu Saga hotel in Reykjavik and a failed assignation in Dortmund.
They may have been on the wrong end of an absurd handball decision at Old Trafford and a harsh directive that allowed their opponents to retake a missed penalty in a 3- 1 defeat by Crystal Palace but that should not disguise the facts that they looked ponderous in possession and that their defence looked scared stiff by the pace and skill of the attacking trident of Wilf Zaha, Jordan Ayew and Andros Townsend.
The manner of their defeat — and the fact that former United forward Zaha scored twice — will add to the growing disquiet among their fans about their lack of activity in the transfer market over the summer.
Donny van de Beek, their only signing so far, came off the bench in the second half to score United’s goal but, on the evidence of this performance, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side desperately need more reinforcements, particularly at the back.
We already knew they would not be good enough to challenge for the Premier League title this season but, without significant additions, this side will not even make the top four.
United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, who has long been lambasted for his failings in the transfer market, will now come under intense pressure to make a marquee signing before the window closes on October 5.
This was supposed to be a season when United began to close the gap that has been allowed to open up between them and Liverpool and Manchester City but this defeat made that idea look like a fantasy.
The vagaries of the staggered start to the new season mean that United are already six points behind both Everton and Palace. There is a long way to go but things already feel bleak at Old Trafford.
Perhaps we should have seen this coming after the late summer that United’s players endured.
Their captain, Harry Maguire, led the way with his misadventures in Mykonos and their rising star, Mason Greenwood, was sent home from England’s trip to Iceland for flouting quarantine regulations with international team-mate Phil Foden.
For some reason, Solskjaer saw fit to revisit that subject on Friday, complaining that England had picked Greenwood for the squad in the first place and that they had then had the temerity to allow him to talk to the media before he made his debut.
England under Gareth Southgate have tried to treat their players like adults. It is not their fault if some players have let them down.
Solskjaer’s intervention served only to strain the club’s relationship with England and ensure t hat
Greenwood’s name was plastered all over the back pages again yesterday just when everyone was starting to forget about Reykjavik.
It made it feel as though United were facing adversity before the Palace match even began.
Even though there was general approval for their signing of Van de Beek from Ajax, their transfer window has been dominated so far by Woodward’s faltering pursuit of Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho.
United’s reluctance to pay more than £100million to secure his signature has led to another outpouring of discontent among United fans. The Sancho saga coupled with the signings made by rivals have reawakened concerns among supporters about their competence in the market.
There were even suggestions that the United hierarchy was annoyed by the reaction on social media to their lack of transfer activity.
That felt a little odd coming from a cl ub whose managing director Richard Arnold boasted earlier this year that the signing of bit- part player Odion Ighalo was the top trend on Twitter. It is hard to feed the monster and starve it at the same time. Van de Beek is a good signing but, taken alone, he will not be enough to get United closer to Liverpool and City. In fact, with Chelsea spending big and Arsenal showing signs of rejuvenation, United are looking over their shoulders rather than marching ahead.
Solskjaer sprang a minor surprise with his starting selection by picking Paul Pogba even t hough he has only just recovered from a bout of coronavirus and leaving Van de Beek on the bench. Greenwood, too, was among the substitutes. Maguire began his rehabilitation in the centre of defence. David de Gea was chosen in goal ahead of Dean Henderson.
Palace had not scored away way from home in the league for seven hours and seven minutes before the game kicked off. Inevitably, it took them seven minutes to put that right. United started sluggishly and Palace took advantage.
Jeffrey Schlupp outstripped Victor Lindelof down the United right and crossed to the back post. Luke Shaw was caught napping and Townsend stole in front of him to clip the ball past De Gea.
De Gea looked tentative with the ball at his feet and d nearly put United deeper into trouble on two occasions. Henderson is an ambitious understudy who may find his chance comes soon. United continued to look discomforted by the pace of Townsend and Zaha on the break. Their own build- ups looked laboured by comparison.
They did create some pressure. Scott McTominay curled a shot just wide. Pogba and Fernandes forced saves out of Vicente Guaita and United’s best chance game when Guaita raced out of his area to hoof a through ball clear and only succeeded in slicing it into the air.
Marcus Rashford waited for it to drop but, as Guaita rushed to regain his ground, Joel Ward clambered all over Rashford to nod the ball clear.
United still looked horribly susceptible to Palace counters and in firsthalf injury time, they nearly went further behind.
Zaha was the instigator once again, carrying the ball from the half-way line and running at Lindelof. He rode a couple of challenges and laid the ball out to Ayew, who cut inside and unleashed a fierce drive that was heading for the roof of the net until it was pushed over by De Gea. Palace started the second half more brightly than United, too. Ayew should have played in Zaha rather than go it alone, Townsend’s shot was deflected over the bar and even though United dominated possession, Pogba and Maguire gave the ball away to allow Palace to set up fresh raids. Despite that, United should have equalised after an hour.
Greenwood had been brought on at half-time and when Timothy FosuMensah curled in a fine cross, the England forward lost his marker and found himself with a free header at the back post. When he steered it wide, he looked disgusted with himself.
After Zaha saw a goal ruled out for offside midway through the half, Van de Beek was brought on in place of Pogba, who had been ineffective, for his debut but almost immediately, Palace were awarded a penalty when Ayew tried to chip the ball over De Gea and it hit Lindelof on the arm.
Referee Martin Atkinson allowed play to continue but then checked replays on the pitchside monitor and
awarded the kick. The decision appeared desperately harsh but the handball law has become so arcane and interpretations of it so rigid that sometimes its implementation can only provoke despair and anger. Ayew took the penalty. His run-up was languid and his kick lacked power or precision and it was saved low to his right by De Gea. United celebrated but their relief was short-lived. Replays showed De Gea had moved marginally off his line before the kick was taken and so Palace were given a second chance. This time it was taken by Zaha and he rifled it into the roof of the net. There were only 16 minutes to go. Solskjaer held his head in his hands.
United pulled a goal back six minutes later when the ball ricocheted around the Palace area and Van de Beek sidefooted it home.
But Palace sealed victory in the 85th minute when Zaha got the better of Lindelof on the edge of the United box and lashed a shot past De Gea from 12 yards. Only one game gone and United are playing catch-up.