United crash as Rashford miss adds to penalty woes
Marcus Rashford did not wait to be told what was happening by Paul Pogba this time. There was no discussion, no decision by committee. He picked up the ball, put it down on the spot, breathed in, breathed out, picked his spot and smashed the penalty kick against the post.
In a week dominated by the fallout from Pogba’s missed penalty against Wolverhampton Wanderers, it turns out that Rashford is capable of missing them too and, sadly, he can also be racially abused on social media when he does.
So, how many designated penalty takers do Manchester United need?
There is the punchline to a joke in there somewhere, but nobody at Old Trafford is laughing because this defeat by Crystal Palace – the first time the London club have beaten United in the Premier League era – exposed more than just the old truism that anyone can miss from 12 yards.
This was an afternoon when old frustrations and lingering concerns about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side and depth of his squad re-emerged. A game that reminded everyone of familiar failings and shortcomings. United have been losing games like this for far too long.
Forget the penalty miss, as irritating as it was, and focus instead on the fact that, asked to find a way through a packed defence, United quickly lost their way, conceded a ridiculously soft goal at the end of Palace’s first attack and then, having finally equalised through Daniel James with just two minutes to go, somehow managed to lose in stoppage time when Patrick van Aanholt beat David de Gea at his near post.
United have been confused for too long, in recruitment and planning but also performance. This brought all of those topics back up for discussion.
After that big win over Chelsea and the encouraging draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers, this defeat was the sort of early-season reality check that will realign expectations. A top-six place, rather than the top four, looks realistic. It is far from certain, though.
“We did not have enough urgency or penetration,” Solskjaer said. “We made it too easy for them in the first half because we didn’t have the change in tempo. We were better in the second half.
“We have to learn and we have to learn quickly. The last two games, we should have got six points, if you look at it as a neutral. We’re two penalty misses away from sitting pretty with nine points, but teams will come here and defend against us, drop deep, like Palace did.”
Palace came to defend, a five-man midfield retreating into their own half whenever a United defender collected possession to try to build an attack, with striker Jordan Ayew effectively turning that into a six-man unit. Behind them, the back four guarded the edge of the penalty area.
Palace were beaten by Sheffield United the previous weekend, a limp, error-strewn display that shamed them. This was a different sort of test, an examination of a different kind and, in many ways, easier, too. Nobody expected them to win here, they did not have to go pushing for a victory. It worked out perfectly.
“The key was the defensive discipline and we stuck to the script at all times,” said Roy Hodgson, the Palace manager. “We knew if we did not seal the spaces, if we did not get back into position when we lost the possession, if we did not let them have the ball in non-threatening positions, they would punish us.
“We rode our luck a bit with their missed penalty, but we defended brilliantly. When you have been working as long as I have in the game, there are lots of little nuggets out there, but I will certainly remind myself over the next few days of the fact I’m the first Crystal Palace manager to beat Manchester United in the Premier League.”
United poured forward throughout, full-backs playing as wingers, centrebacks as auxiliary midfielders. Palace fell back and absorbed it all.
Rashford might have scored early on, sent through on goal by Jesse Lin- gard, but as he prepared to shoot, Martin Kelly got back to make a superb recovery tackle.
Moments later, Rashford and Luke Shaw combined on the left-hand side of the area. Anthony Martial’s shot was blocked but spun kindly for James, who drilled the ball back towards goal, but somehow it flicked off the heel of Van Aanholt and goalkeeper Vicente Guaita got it clear.
The goal was surely coming and eventually it did – for Palace, from their first attack of the game, launched by Guaita’s kick. Victor Lindelof was flat-footed and did not attack the header. Jeffrey Schlupp did, running, leaping, winning. Ayew had anticino. pated he would and the striker finished superbly.
It was terrible defending. Old Trafford was stunned – and Palace almost scored a second immediately, only for Schlupp and Ayew to get in each other’s way, the ball eventually falling for Wilfried Zaha, but the angle was tight and De Gea saved.
United lost impetus and their way. The second half started with another James shot blocked by Van Aanholt at the far post. Old Trafford roared but Palace held firm, Ashley Young scuffing a volley when he should have hit the target, Martial firing over the bar after he had been pulled back by Kelly.
It probably should have been a penalty but Paul Tierney, the referee, said “I cannot believe VAR did not overturn that one. It is a stonewall penalty,” Solskjaer said. His players would have probably missed it anyway.
United finally got the penalty they deserved, Scott McTominay tripped by Luka Milivojevic, but once again failed to covert. James looked as though he had rescued a point but Van Aanholt denied them even that. Moussa Djenepo struck within two minutes of arriving as a substitute as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men collected their first points of the season at the expense of a Brighton side reduced to 10 men and left to curse a video assistant referee ruling for the second week in succession.
Southampton had been struggling to quell Brighton when Djenepo, the Malian winger acquired from Standard Liege in a £14million deal, marked his arrival off the bench with his first goal.
It was tough on Brighton, whose unbeaten start to the season was cut short despite another encouraging performance under manager Graham Potter.
They did contribute to their own downfall, however, with Florin Andone’s 30th-minute dismissal for a reckless studs-up challenge on Yann Valery reducing their attacking threat.
There was further frustration eight minutes later when Lewis Dunk’s headed goal was ruled out after VAR confirmed an assistant referee’s ruling that Dan Burn was offside.
Hasenhuttl said: “The change in the game was Moussa’s big impact. Unbelievable. But it was a hard fight. We are happy with the three points but we can play much better.”
Brighton were full of bright ideas from the off. A corner-kick routine almost unhinged a baffled Southampton defence, then came a break down the left by Leandro Trossard, who delivered an outswinging cross for Martin Montoya, who headed narrowly wide.
Southampton, who had reverted to a four-man defence, had shown little to lift their travelling fans, apart from a 50-yard dash by Nathan Redmond that ended with a low shot at Mathew Ryan. But the visitors exploded into life 10 minutes into the second half, helped by an astute decision by referee Kevin Friend to apply the advantage after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg had been fouled. The attack continued and Djenepo sent a sumptuous finish flashing beyond Ryan from 20 yards.
Brighton might have snatched an equaliser when substitute Jurgen Locadia drove against the post but the home side were punished when Nathan Redmond made matters safe with a close-range finish in added time.
“The red card altered the complexion of the game but we responded well,” Potter said. “There was an incredible spirit on the pitch. I am proud of their performance and effort.” There were no recriminations over the big decisions. “It was a straight red, and if it is offside, it’s offside.” Potter said.