A fixture with a little bit of significance, as tonight’s contest was the first time Manchester United had visited Selhurst Park in  January for 28 years. The last time this fixture was played was when Eric Cantona famously Kung-Fu kicked a Crystal Palace supporter in the stands. The travelling United fans dedicated some chants to their “King Eric”, in the first half. 

More recently, Palace were last hosts to Man United back in May where Ralf Rangnick oversaw his final game as United interim boss. The man who replaced him, Erik ten Hag, was in attendance for the game where he saw the side he inherited lose 1-0 thanks to a goal from former Man United man Wilfried Zaha. It is safe to say that the Ivorian made less impact this time round. 

Bruno Fernandes was back amongst the goals as he opened the scoring just before half time. United had a chance to double their lead in the 72nd minute, but VAR decided not to award a penalty after Scott McTominay was brought down in the box.

History almost repeated itself tonight as United were on track to win 1 nothing as they did just over a year ago against Palace at Old Trafford. While it was not a Kung-Fu kick from a Frenchman that changed the game, it was in fact a free kick from Michael Olise in injury time to earn the Eagles a point at home. 

 

  • Story of the Match

Palace went into the game with only 1 Premier League victory in their previous 5 games, when they defeated Bournemouth 0:2 on New Year’s Eve. Their two goal scorers on the day, Eberechi Eze and Jordan Ayew, did not start against Man United however, the man who assisted both goals, Michael Olise, made Patrick Viera’s XI. Both players were substituted on in the second half.

An injury for Joachim Andersen meant that former Bayern Munich defender Chris Richards made his first Premier League start for the Eagles. The American had the task of trying to contain Man United’s newest, and tallest ever signing, Wout Weghorst, in which he was successful. As debuts go , the big Dutchman had one on the forgettable side. 

Richards also kept Marcus Rashford off the scoresheet and really imposed himself in the game. The 22 year old performed well but narrowly avoided giving away a penalty by the skin of his teeth in the second half, following a lunge on McTominay. 

Casemiro also started for Man United despite going into the game with a chance that he would miss out against Arsenal on Sunday, if he were to pick up a yellow card. All looked good for the Brazilian, who managed to stay out of trouble for 80 minutes but it was a nasty challenge on Zaha that prompted referee Robert Jones to book the former Los Blancos midfielder. A huge blow for Manchester United, as he played very well in the game and was a definite starter against the league leaders .

The first real chance in the game came from an effort by Luke Shaw. His well struck volley from the left-hand side of the box almost opened the scoring for Man United, just 15 minutes into the game.  

Only a couple of minutes later, World Cup winner Lisandro Martinez was given a headband to wear after a near worrying clash with Jean-Phillipe Mateta. The birthday boy was able to carry on for Manchester United.

After a lull of real action in the first half, Man United had a free kick in the 38th minute. The Red Devil in form, Marcus Rashford, struck the ball just wide of Vicente Guaita’s post. Following that chance, the game became one of exciting, end-to-end nature. An effort from Odsonne Édouard provoked a fantastic, fingertip save from David de Gea which denied Palace from opening their goal scoring account. Counter attacks from both sides were denied  with notable tackles from Chris Richards and former Palace star Aaron Wan Bissaka; which brought a real element of physicality to the game. 

A goal on the brink of half time for either side looked inevitable and in the 43rd minute, Bruno Fernandes finished off a well-worked goal for Manchester United. It looked so easy for The Reds, as they jogged up the pitch in numbers. Fernandes linked up well with his teammates Rashford and Christian Eriksen down the left-hand side.

A nice passing sequence between the three concluded with Eriksen creatively detecting a channel through the Palace defence, the Dane sprinted past Nathaniel Clyne and into the box, where he cut the ball back to an arriving Fernandes who neatly slotted the ball into the top right corner. It was an easy strike in the end, as the Palace defence were unable to close down United’s captain in time, leaving the Portuguese international in acres of space.

Eriksen’s energy in the first half really helped Manchester United all over the pitch. On one occasion he even managed to out-sprint the notoriously quick Wilfried Zaha and dispossess the winger to prevent a potential goal. 

A relatively tame start to the second half saw an extremely confident Manchester United side try all sorts of tricks against their opponents. In the 64th minute, Marcus Rashford attempted an audacious shot which sailed over the bar. Prior to that there were multiple, tricky long balls to try and break down Crystal Palace’s strong, compact shape. 

Most of Palace’s chances in the second half were quickly disarmed by the United defence, who were tough and consistently competitive throughout the game. However, they almost cracked after a chance from a corner in the 74th minute prompted another quickly reacted save from David de Gea, denying Marc Guéhi his first Premier League goal of the season. 

The missed opportunity seemed to invigorate Viera’s side, with substitute Eze and Olise in particular trying their best to create something for the team on a number of occasions. Palace’s efforts found themselves rewarded with a goal of magnificent proportions.

Olise buried a free kick from distance and it was nothing short of a wonderful finish that went in off the underside of the crossbar. The seemingly formidable David de Gea was finally beaten, as the ball found itself on the side of the touchline where Palace needed it to be. 

After a few rapid-fire chances for Manchester United in the dying embers of the game, including a mistimed effort from Casemiro that was agonisingly close to going in, the game finished 1:1. A game very much of two halves, Palace performed much better in the second 45 minutes and their goal was well deserved. They were certainly not the bookies favourites due to Manchester United’s impressive form of late but they put of a brilliant fight.

As for Manchester United, it was not necessarily a bad performance from the Red Devils. However, in the second half it must be said that they were wasteful with some chances. It almost looked as though they got a bit too cocky after a convincing first half display. 

 

Player of the Match: Michael Olise

The 21 year old put on a brilliant display. While he was rather quiet in the first half, he came alive when it mattered most. Just after the 70 minute mark, the Palace side began to play much better with Olise being a prime example of that. His energy gave Luke Shaw a lot to deal with and and in the end, it proved to be too much. 

Olise’s strike was spectacular and it was one he definitely deserved to score. He was very comfortable on the ball and received little competition as to who the best winger was on the pitch.