An injury-ravaged Manchester United slipped to another embarrassing low on Monday night as they were battered by a vibrant Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
The Red Devils fielded a rag-tag outfit and lacked any stability as goals from Michael Olise and Jean-Philippe Mateta fired Palace into a deserved lead at half-time.
CB: Casemiro – 1/10 – Jumped out of defence and was made to pay for it when Olise struck. Looked like he had forgotten he was playing at centre-back. One of the worst displays of his career.
Tyrick Mitchell converted from close range before Olise bagged another from distance, with United completely out-fought and out-played in an embarrassing display.
How the game unfolded
Man Utd’s injury crisis had hit truly unsustainable heights ahead of kick-off at Selhurst Park. Bruno Fernandes was ruled out while the defence had been hit particularly hard with the likes of Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof all unavailable. Jonny Evans pulled through to start alongside Casemiro in central defence.
Eberechi Eze missed last week’s draw at Fulham but recovered in time to join fellow Eagles star Olise in attack behind the in-form Mateta.
United’s starting XI of square pegs in round holes came undone in the 12th minute as Olise fired the hosts into the lead. The Frenchman, rumoured to be admired by officials at Old Trafford, gave makeshift centre-back Casemiro the slip far too easily and drove towards the penalty area, shooting into the bottom corner beyond the outstretched Andre Onana.
The visitors were unsurprisingly out of sync in attack without captain Fernandes as Mason Mount had a volley blocked, but it was Palace who looked more dangerous as their trio of Olise, Eze and Mateta hassled and hurried the wounded defence into mistakes.
Oliver Glasner’s side nearly gifted United an equaliser as Dean Henderson flapped under a Casemiro header from a corner, though the goalkeeper was adjudged to have been fouled by Rasmus Hojlund.
A Kobbie Mainoo error nearly allowed Palace to double their lead. The young midfielder’s pass back to Onana was under-hit but his teammate did enough to prevent Olise rounding him.
While United saw enough of the ball, they looked toothless and instead their patched-up defence were left hoping Palace would shoot wide whenever they inevitably got in behind. However, Mateta then produced an incredibly clinical finish to power Palace into a 2-0 goal lead.
Chris Richards’ pass opened up United as Mateta ran at Evans, who flung out a leg in desperation as the big Frenchman ran past him. His strike was fierce as it whizzed past Onana at the near post, earning a 12th Premier League goal of the season and a fifth in his last four games.
With little quality arriving on the pitch in the first 45 minutes and barely any experience on the bench, Ten Hag was left with an almighty team talk to deliver at half-time.
Their first shot on target did at least arrive when Antony tried his luck from distance, but Henderson easily gathered. Casemiro then converted after his header hit the post only to see the offside flag go up, the Brazilian well ahead of the last defender.
For all their puffing, United instead offered up a third goal before the hour mark. Adam Wharton’s dangerous ball in found Joachim Andersen battling with Diogo Dalot. The ball bounced kindly to Mitchell, who smashed in from close range to compound Ten Hag’s misery – still with 30 minutes remaining.
Things got worse soon after as Olise capitalised on horrendous errors from Casemiro and Onana. The Brazilian attempted to see the ball out but was dispossessed by Munoz, who played it back to Olise. His powerful but central strike thundered into the back of the net, with Onana’s poor positioning not allowing him to get close.
Palace’s strong end to the season is a testament to their mid-season switch to manager Glasner, though they were helped endlessly by a Man Utd side without desire or discipline.
