After Monday night’s dismal home defeat against Everton, Manchester United bounced back to winning ways with a comeback success at Crystal Palace
Ruben Amorim joked he is using Manchester United’s weeks without European football to “steal” set-piece ideas after snatching a rare win at Selhurst Park. And the Reds were able to commit daylight robbery against an exhausted Crystal Palace side who lost in the Conference League on Thursday night.
Joshua Zirkzee – with his first Premier League goal for a year – and Mason Mount took Manchester United ’s tally to 10 deadball goals from 13 games this season. Both came from assists from free kicks from captain Bruno Fernandes. And after a terrible first half, the Portuguese coach said he had learned the importance of set-piece goals after a year in English football.
“We work a lot,” said Amorim. “We have more time to work, we work a lot and we learn a lot in England. I think you are used to seeing that but when you come for the Premier League you learn a lot with other teams how to do it and we are stealing a lot of things to score goals.”
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Selhurst Park has been a bogey ground for the Old Trafford club with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial the goalscorers for their last win in South London during the pandemic in July 2020. And that terrible run looked set to continue when Jean-Philippe Mateta netted a retaken penalty after 32 minutes.
United target Adam Wharton found the France striker with a gorgeous reverse pass before Leny Yoro brought the Palace striker down with a clumsy challenge. Mateta scored the spot kick at the second attempt after VAR ordered a re-take after an accidental double touch but Palace had other chances to seal a home win.
Palace had chances to seal the win in the first half as Amorim’s side looked as lethargic as last season – and in the Monday defeat to Everton. But he inspired his players to finally raise their game after the break as the FA Cup holders flagged after kicking off only 62 hours after their loss in Strasbourg.
“I just said to the players we need to be more alive,” said Amorim. “They were getting tired for the second half and we talked about that. And again, our pace in the first half, intensity, we cannot play like that in the Premier League.
“So we increased that and I had the feeling that if we score one goal, this is going to change completely.”
That goal came after 54 minutes. Fernandes chipped forward a free kick into space and Zirkzee controlled the ball on his chest before lashing a left-footed shot past former Manchester United keeper Dean Henderson. It was Zirkzee’s first Premier League goal since December 1 last year – and his first in any competition since April.
The injury-hit Dutchman said: “A great feeling. It’s always a good feeling to score but most importantly it got us back into the game.”
Speaking about Zirkzee’s display, Amorim said he had personified United’s improvement.
“It was really important,” said the Reds manager. “But it was not just the goal, even the runs behind. In the first half he struggled on the duels and he won some duels in the second half. We improved a lot because of the quality of Josh in the second half. That is important for him to understand. That is not just the goal. We play better because Josh played better in the second half.”
Fernandes played a shorter ball from a free kick after 63 minutes for Mount to drill home the winner through a shambolic Palace wall.
It was the Eagle’s first Premier League home defeat since February 15 as Oliver Glasner, who also plays 3-4-3, failed his audition to be potentially Manchester United new boss next season.
Instead Amorim saw his side win in London for the first time this season as he took a big step to qualifying for Europe and staying at Old Trafford next season.
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