NO BEATING ABOUT THE BUSH, UNITED ARE INEPT
USUALLY a league trip to Old Trafford for Crystal Palace is as welcome as a bushtucker trial on ITV’s ‘I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!’. Well the worms have turned with Roy Hodgson’s side ending a run of 11 successive losses – and they should have made off with all the points.
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has said his brat pack lack maturity and mental toughness, and yesterday they were outrun and outmanoeuvred by a Palace side who belied their lowly position.
Led by Wilfried Zaha, who has matured and definitely instilled some mental toughness to his game after failing to impress during an unhappy stay at Manchester United, Palace should have collected all three points.
But a catalogue of misses left Selhurst Park boss Roy Hodgson frustrated and dreaming of what might have been.
Patrick van Aanholt sliced the ball wide with the goal at his mercy and Andros Townsend fired across the goal with only David de Gea to beat.
Hodgson said: “Could we have got more? That is the constant lament. I get asked that after every game.
“At least we got something and on another day if fate had been kinder and we had been a bit more clinical we could have won.”
Mourinho went on a mercy dash to Belgium last week at the invitation of international manager Roberto Martinez to try and ease Romelu Lukaku out of his lethargy.
He could have saved the airfare for all the difference it made. It’s now 11 games without a goal for the striker, although a correct linesman’s flag cut short his celebrations after prodding in from close range after Palace keeper Wayne Hennessey had pushed out an Ashley Young effort.
Wales international Hennessey also had to scramble a header from Lukaku around the post with eight minutes to go as United desperately attempted to up the tempo.
That would have been a travesty for Palace, who also saw the referee’s assistant chalk off a header from Cheikhou Kouyate, again a borderline decision but the right one.
Once again it proved to be an inauspicious afternoon for Paul Pogba, who was hooked after 67 minutes – although Mourinho had a variety of underperformers in this United team to choose from.
At the final whistle you could have excused the Portuguese for shouting out that well known phrase – ‘I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!’.