Premier League news: Mason Mount the unlikely hero as improving Man Utd beat Crystal Palace
Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park on Sunday to stay within touching distance of the European places ahead of the festive period.
Second-half goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount did the damage for the visitors as the Eagles’ could only manage a first-half penalty courtesy of Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Robert Bore reviews the game in London.
Ghosts of Everton loss remain
After sifting through the ruins of Monday night’s disasterclass against Everton, one thing was clear: Manchester United still can’t be trusted.
Like asking your pet dog to watch your pizza while you nip to the loo or instructing your toddler not to pee on the rug, there are no guarantees.
So a trip to Selhurst Park to face an energetic Crystal Palace side was not on my list of favourite things to do on a Sunday.
The sight of Ruben Amorim’s men dropping to their knees at Old Trafford after losing to the Toffees as though they had just put in some sort of Herculean effort instead of serving up the sort of piss-poor slop reserved for a Victorian workhouse was … something.
Indeed, to say Monday was shabby would be an understatement. I stand by what I wrote.
Amorim made two changes to the side that mugged themselves off, with the people’s (my) favourite Diogo Dalot and the lesser spotted Mason Mount drafted in from the start – Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui sacrificed, possibly at some sort of altar.
Palace were unchanged from last weekend’s victory at Wolves, although a Thursday night European trip to Strasbourg had to be factored in as the Eagles looked to make it five games against United without conceding.
Palace dangerous from the start
That brilliant record was almost gone inside the first minute, though, when former United man Dean Henderson had to scramble the ball to safety after first Bryan Mbuemo and then Casemiro couldn’t connect properly to smash open the deadlock.
Mateta, of whom I am a large fan, turned away from Dalot and raced goalwards but his effort was into the side-netting with Senne Lammens well-placed.
Zirkzee continued his trend of passing to the opposition, taking 10 minutes to misplay a pass, but it wasn’t a terrible start from the visitors.
Casemiro glanced a header wide and at the other end Adam Wharton fired straight down Lammens’ throat through a crowded box.
But madness is never far away from this United side it seems and Matthijs de Ligt headed into the back of Leny Yoro, allowing the ball to fall fortuitously for Mateta, who found himself with half a yard in behind the defence.
My sigh was audible and I expected the net to ripple but to his credit, Yoro did enough to put his fellow Frenchman off and Mateta fired wide.
Mbuemo was shown a yellow card, presumably for something he said, while Palace looked dangerous on the counter again, another ball in behind causing havoc in the United defence.
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United struggle to find rhythm
The signs were ominous.
The Eagles were, after all, unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League games against sides starting with a back three/five formation, with eight of those wins.
Dalot did well to buy a foul off Daniel Muñoz to give Bruno Fernandes the chance to create something from a free-kick, but he decided to leave it for Mbuemo who somehow hit the first defender when it looked like the hardest option of all.
But Palace were in their stride as Wharton broke from midfield and released Daichi Kamada but Lammens was equal to it.
The next attack then owed more to United calamity than Palace ingenuity.
Dalot tried to turn his man but it was about as obvious as a Christmas jumper, the hosts recycling the ball as Bruno proceeded to then slip, inadvertently blocking the retreating Dalot while the ball was crossed for Yeremy Pino to fire at goal – Yoro's excellent block spared the opener.
Comedy at its finest.
Equally as laughable but certainly not funny was a 32nd-minute Palace penalty.
Wharton popped a ball off into Mateta who turned Yoro, the youngster seeming to lose his footing – like a new-born calf getting that first gust of fresh air – and clipping the striker who went down.
Mateta got back up and sent Lammens the wrong way.
Quickly, somebody please do something.
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Mateta strikes through retaken penalty
As it happened, VAR did do something and United were handed a lifeline.
Mateta had made an accidental double-touch and the goal was chalked off. Nice, I thought, a lucky escape.
But the new ruling meant Mateta would get another go at it, and he gobbled up the reprieve and sent Lammens the wrong way again.
1-0 to the hosts, no more than Palace deserved.
It was ominous that United had not won any of their last 10 league matches after conceding first and had lost all four of this season’s instances.
Palace were forced into a change with Ismaïla Sarr replaced by Eddie Nketiah while United had their first effort on ‘goal’ in half an hour or so when Dalot hit a shot so poor that it actually stayed in despite flying wide at pace.
The hosts should have made it two in added time thanks to more hilarity as De Ligt slipped when the ball was played into Nketiah as he raced goalwards, but the former Arsenal man waited too long to pull the trigger and Luke Shaw came from nowhere to block with his rump.
For their possession, United were just too flat and, generally, weak.
Wharton was tidying up well too, quite obviously being tasked with keeping Fernandes quiet while also sparking attacks at the other end.
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Zirkzee, Mount engineer quick turnaround
Much like Monday, United had been masters of their own downfall on several occasions with slips, bad bounces, or general Keystone Cops play.
The only thing missing were big red noses and size-16 clown shoes.
I was tempted to go for a lie down, but with a 12 noon kick-off I’d only been awake a couple of hours, so back to it and onto the second half with no changes.
Eight minutes in and I’d spent most of it taking digs at Zirkzee, mainly as I had him in my Bet Builder for a shot on target in 90 minutes and that looked about as likely as a lottery win.
Then boom!
Bruno dinked a free-kick into the Dutchman’s path on the left side of the box.
It was a clever run and while he was definitely onside, the ball looked to be far too wide to make anything of but his turn and strike were cleaner than a surgeon’s scalpel and just as clinical, rasping the ball across Henderson and into the far corner for the equaliser.
I took a chunky bite out of my hat and swallowed.
Yoro was replaced by Mazraoui and one of the Moroccan’s first actions was to almost put one into his own net via Zirkzee’s shoulder. More calamity!
But then more joy. United went ahead.
Dalot won a free-kick just outside the left edge of the box which Fernandes nudged a yard to his right for Mount who struck it cleanly and crisply into Henderson’s near post.
Everyone bar the United duo seemed to be caught a little off guard but the away fans didn’t care and the game had turned on its head.
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Red Devils survive final stretch
Dalot looked to have been fouled on the edge of the box but the referee inexplicably waved it away without sanction either way while Shaw was booked seconds after.
Marc Guéhi followed him with 15 minutes left as United won another free-kick, this time from the other side, which ended with Dalot taking out a pigeon somewhere in south London.
The calamity was never far away though, Zirkzee and Mbuemo getting in each other’s way before the latter fired tamely at Henderson.
The question now was whether United could manage the game to a positive conclusion.
I felt a cover bet coming on with Palace now a 33-1 shot to win and the draw at 10-3 but relented.
With nine minutes left, there was more joy, Lisandro Martinez back on the grass after his lengthy lay off – the Butcher being back could only be a boost.
Mbuemo curled one wide after wrangling some space and cutting in from the right, but it never troubled the keeper and we were down to five minutes of regulation time to navigate.
Palace threatened but failed to lay a glove really while Fernandes rubbed his hamstring a little too attentively for my liking.
But wait – Palace sub Will Hughes got the wrong side of Casemiro and the former Real Madrid man brought him down, just to the right of the ‘D’ some 20 yards from goal.
Surely not?
Thankfully, the resulting strike cannoned back off the wall to safety and the full-time whistle allowed me to finish off what was left of my headwear.
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Good result sparks much-needed momentum
What an odd team we are.
This is a result, make no bones. Palace are a good side and were beaten on their own patch.
After Monday’s shambles, I never saw that coming.
And while Wharton did a good job on Bruno in the first half, the Portuguese found a little more space as the game opened up.
We miss Matheus Cunha, that’s for sure – I’m not sure how long the Brazilian is sidelined for, but hopefully it isn’t, well, long.
Mount’s energy and willingness to press was also a constant threat.
But the calamity, oh the calamity, so many unforced errors. Had this been a tennis match, we’d have lost by double faults.
However, credit where it is due – Zirkzee has looked like a man without a run of games this week but his finish was sublime and Casemiro saw out the full 90, although that may have been more to do with Amorim not trusting Manuel Ugarte to complete the job.
A quick turnaround for a Thursday-night visit from West Ham and a trip to Wolves the following Monday.
Six points there for the taking and a good time to build a bit of trust with yours truly.
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