Manchester United suffered a second successive defeat at home in the Premier League as Joachim Andersen’s superb strike gave Crystal Palace an impressive victory at Old Trafford.
The teams were meeting for the second time in five days, with Erik ten Hag’s side comfortably winning 3-0 in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
But Palace rested a number of first-team players for that game and were a different proposition on Saturday as they produced the perfect away performance.
After Tyrick Mitchell cleared Rasmus Hojlund’s effort off the line, Palace took the lead when Andersen superbly drove a first-time effort into the top corner after a free-kick.
Manchester United then piled on the pressure, but struggled to find a way through the Palace defence. When they did they found goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in superb form.
Johnstone made two crucial saves in the second half to preserve Palace’s lead, first pushing over Bruno Fernandes’ dipping effort before keeping out Hojlund’s bullet header.
The Palace goal continued to live a charmed life but Manchester United could not find a way through as the visitors secured a win that moved them above their opponents to ninth, with the hosts dropping to 10th.
It is now four defeats in seven Premier League games for Ten Hag’s side, who have endured their worst start to a league season after seven games in 34 years.
A frustrating afternoon for United
After starting September with three successive defeats Manchester United were looking to end the month on a high, and victory over Palace would have been their third in a row to get their season off and running.
Having breezed to victory against Roy Hodgson’s men on Tuesday, the home fans would have been forgiven for expecting more of the same against the Eagles.
Initially it looked like that would be the case as they made a dominant start, but Mitchell’s goalline clearance proved something of a turning point.
After that, Palace started to look more of a threat on the counter, while Manchester United found themselves increasingly frustrated as they struggled to break their opponents down.
There were boos at full time from the home fans, who expressed their frustration at the officials after a couple of penalty calls were waved away.
United had plenty of chances to snatch a draw, but a mix of poor finishing and excellent Palace defending meant it would not be their day.
The perfect away performance
For Crystal Palace, this was a gameplan for an away game executed to perfection.
They were defensively solid and looked a threat on the counter-attack, with Andersen’s fine strike just reward for a strong display in the opening 45 minutes.
Palace had not scored in the first half this season before the trip to Old Trafford, but it was well worth the wait with Andersen displaying brilliant technique for the strike from Eberechi Eze’s free-kick down the right.
From then on it was all about resisting the numerous Manchester United attacks, which they did so superbly with Andersen and Marc Guehi superb in the centre of defence, backed up by Johnstone.
Player of the match
RichardsChris Richards
Crystal Palace
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Squad number26Player nameRichards
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Squad number16Player nameAndersen
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Squad number10Player nameEze
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Squad number44Player nameRiedewald
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Squad number6Player nameGuéhi
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Squad number9Player nameJ Ayew
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Squad number3Player nameMitchell
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Squad number1Player nameJohnstone
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Squad number28Player nameDoucouré
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Squad number19Player nameHughes
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Squad number2Player nameWard
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Squad number14Player nameMateta
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Squad number15Player nameSchlupp
Line-ups
Man Utd
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 24Onana
- 20Dalot
- 19VaraneSubstituted forMaguireat 87′minutes
- 2LindelöfSubstituted forvan de Beekat 88′minutes
- 4S AmrabatBooked at 79mins
- 18CasemiroBooked at 10mins
- 7MountBooked at 77minsSubstituted forMartialat 77′minutes
- 28PellistriSubstituted forGarnachoat 61′minutes
- 8Bruno Fernandes
- 10RashfordSubstituted forEriksenat 77′minutes
- 11Højlund
Substitutes
- 1Bayindir
- 5Maguire
- 9Martial
- 14Eriksen
- 17Garnacho
- 34van de Beek
- 35Evans
- 39McTominay
- 46Mejbri
Crystal Palace
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Johnstone
- 2WardBooked at 45mins
- 16Andersen
- 6Guéhi
- 3Mitchell
- 28Doucouré
- 19HughesBooked at 32mins
- 9J Ayew
- 10EzeSubstituted forRichardsat 88′minutes
- 15SchluppSubstituted forRiedewaldat 78′minutes
- 14Mateta
Substitutes
- 4Holding
- 17Clyne
- 23Ebiowei
- 26Richards
- 31Matthews
- 44Riedewald
- 49Rak-Sakyi
- 52Ozoh
- 53Ola-Adebomi
- Referee:
- Chris Kavanagh
- Attendance:
- 73,428
Live Text
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Match ends, Manchester United 0, Crystal Palace 1.
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Second Half ends, Manchester United 0, Crystal Palace 1.
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Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Marc Guéhi.
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Attempt blocked. Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Donny van de Beek with a headed pass.
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Corner, Crystal Palace. Conceded by Harry Maguire.
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Foul by Sofyan Amrabat (Manchester United).
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Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Attempt missed. Donny van de Beek (Manchester United) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Christian Eriksen.
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Substitution, Manchester United. Donny van de Beek replaces Victor Lindelöf.
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Substitution, Crystal Palace. Chris Richards replaces Eberechi Eze.
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Substitution, Manchester United. Harry Maguire replaces Raphaël Varane.
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Attempt missed. Casemiro (Manchester United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Anthony Martial.
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Attempt blocked. Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Anthony Martial.
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Foul by Casemiro (Manchester United).
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Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Attempt missed. Joachim Andersen (Crystal Palace) header from very close range is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Eberechi Eze with a cross following a set piece situation.
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Sofyan Amrabat (Manchester United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Hand ball by Sofyan Amrabat (Manchester United).
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Substitution, Crystal Palace. Jairo Riedewald replaces Jeffrey Schlupp.
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Substitution, Manchester United. Christian Eriksen replaces Marcus Rashford.