EMBARRASS MENT!
Rashford latest United penalty flop as Palace beat them in league for first time since 1991
THIS was Crystal Palace’s first league win over United, home or away, since the old First Division days in 1991 when Ian Wright was among the scorers.
During that time, they’ve tried and failed to stop greats like Cantona, Scholes, Ronaldo and Van Persie. Yesterday they came up against a United front four with an average age of 20 and their best two players, Paul Pogba and David de Gea, out of form.
Palace rode their luck a little, with Marcus Rashford missing the first penalty of his career and a couple of VAR decisions United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer complained about. But when a winning goal arrived after 92 minutes — aka Fergie-time — it wasn’t too surprising that it went to the visitors.
Left- back Patrick van Aanholt pounced on an error by Pogba to run from inside his own half, exchange passes with James McArthur and Wilfried Zaha and beat De Gea at his near post.
Though the shot had power, the Spaniard will feel he should have done better for a goalkeeper of his stature.
To add to United’s embarrassment, Palace’s goals at Old Trafford were the first they had scored this season, and the hosts didn’t function at the other end of the pitch either. Solskjaer’s men failed to register a single shot on target during the entire first half.
‘I don’t think we showed enough urgency and penetration until they scored,’ said Solskjaer. ‘I thought we put more pressure on them in the second half but you have to hit the target and score goals when you have those moments. We have to learn quickly.
‘We were unlucky though. The foul on Anthony Martial [ when Palace led 1-0] was an obvious penalty, it is nailed on. I was surprised VAR didn’t give it. He wouldn’t slip if he didn’t have a 100kg centreback on his shoulders.’
Palace boss Roy Hodgson, who left out Andros Townsend and Christian Benteke to make his side more resilient, rightly said: ‘The key was our defensive discipline and the fact people stuck to the script at all times.
‘We knew if we didn’t seal the spaces they would score goals. Jordan Ayew, who scored the first goal, was very good. I was in no doubt I’d bring him back for this game. He also had a job to do denying Paul Pogba space to spray passes about.’
Palace turned up with a definite game plan. Former Chelsea defender Gary Cahill, 33, made his club debut behind three holding midfielders and with the Londoners putting their bodies on the line, United ran out of ideas quickly.
Perhaps former boss Jose Mourinho had a point when he said the current team lacked enough experience. Up front Martial (23-yearsold) was accompanied by Rashford and Dan James (both 21), with the trio later accompanied by 17-year-old forward Mason Greenwood.
It might have been different had Rashford kept his feet early on when played clean through. Instead, the England striker stumbled and allowed the excellent Martin Kelly to put in a recovery tackle.
When Cahill brought down Martial on the edge of the box and United’s players and fans howled for a red card, referee Paul Tierney opted for yellow. Palace took the lead after 32 minutes with a routeone goal United s hould have defended better. Goalkeeper Vicente Guaita launched a long clearance and Jeffrey Schlupp showed greater determination than Victor Lindelof to win a header.
With no United defender covering, Ayew had time and space to run into the penalty area and slip a low finish past De Gea for his first goal in 11 games. United had a golden opportunity to level after 69 minutes when Martial’s lay-off to Scott McTominay saw the midfielder clipped by Luka Milivojevic.
Given t he hoo- hah t hat surrounded United’s penalty at Wolves on Monday — Rashford allowed Pogba to take it and he missed — there was no doubt the Englishman would have this one. Even so, there seemed uncharacteristic nervousness i n his run- up before he smacked a shot against the inside of Guiata’s right post before the ball bounced to safety.
He’d converted all six of his previous penalties and, in a sad indictment of the modern world, there were racial slurs against him on social media, just as there had
been against Pogba last week, before the full-time whistle had even blown. United’s best move of the afternoon brought an equaliser after 89 minutes that they thought had earned them a point.
Pogba lost and then won back the ball on the halfway line. Martial and Rashford combined before the Frenchman released James — who had also been denied a VARchecked penalty — on the edge of the box. He cut inside and curled a beauty into Guiata’s top corner.
The Old Trafford roar made it clear they expected a dramatic winning comeback in injury time. But these aren’t the days of Cantona, Scholes, Ronaldo and Van Persie. Instead, they lost.
Pogba gave away possession and Van Aanholt started and finished the decisive move with the clock ticking towards 93 minutes.
Pogba is a Marmite figure but Solskjaer is backing him to the hilt. ‘I thought Paul won the ball really well for our first goal and played some great passes. You know he is going to want the ball all the time. Yes, he lost it [for Palace’s winner], he will lose the ball again and try again, no problem with that.’
Solskjaer knows that, love or hate him, United need Pogba right now if they want to be like the teams of yesteryear, beating sides like Palace on a regular basis. MANCHESTER UNITED (4-3-3): De Gea 5.5; Wan-Bissaka 6.5, Lindelof 5, Maguire 6, Shaw 6 (Young 34min, 6); Lingard 5 (Greenwood 56, 6.5), Pogba 6, McTominay 5.5 (Mata 85); James 6.5, Martial 6.5, Rashford 5. Booked: Wan-Bissaka, James. Subs (not used): Romero, Tuanzebe, Matic, Pereira. CRYSTAL PALACE (4-5-1): Guaita 6; Ward 6, Cahill 6.5, Kelly 7, Van Aanholt 8; Zaha 6.5, Milivojevic 6, Kouyate 7 (McCarthy 83), McArthur 6, Schlupp 6.5 (Townsend 80); Ayew 6.5 (Benteke 75, 6). Booked: Cahill, Milivojevic, Guiata, Zaha. Subs ( not used): Hennessey, Dann, Meyer, Wickham. Referee: P Tierney (Lancashire) 6.5.