Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace
Ralf Rangnick earns his first Manchester United win as interim manager after Fred’s 77th minute strike with his right foot from 20 yards out, seals a 1-0 victory.
This win coincides with United’s first clean sheet since April, and first in the league since March, a 1-0 win against West Ham.
The performance as a whole was much improved, especially the first half. They looked to press Palace from the first whistle, which forced a few mistakes. Despite this pressure, They did not create many clear cut chances to test Vicente Guaita, with strikers Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford having quiet games. The best chance of the game actually fell to Crystal Palace, with Jordan Ayew missing from a couple of yards out but from a tight angle.
Rangnick, in his pre-match press conference, spoke about building control in games as something to improve on, “in football, you have to minimise the coincidence factor and to have control on the game.” This was evident during the match with United finishing with 61% possession. Watching the game, there was an immediate improvement in recycling the ball and pushing the full-backs further up the pitch, which opposed Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer’s predictable style. It will be interesting to see how Rangnick’s style develops in the coming weeks.
From a Crystal Palace point of view, Patrick Viera will be happy with his players attitude and work ethic, they never gave up and defended well. It is clear the do not fear playing the top teams in the league, with the performance here and beating Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium being prime examples.
Line-ups:
Manchester United:
De Gea, Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire, Telles, McTominay, Fred, Fernandes (off 86), Sancho (off 62′), Ronaldo, Rashford (off 76).
Substitutes: Henderson, Jones, Bailly, Wan-Bissaka, Matic, van de Beek (on 86′), Mata, Elanga (on 76′), Greenwood (on 62′).
Crystal Palace:
Guaita, Clyne, Tomkins, Guehi, Mitchell, Schlupp, Kouyate (off 84′), Gallagher, Ayew (off 84′), Zaha, Benteke (off 66′).
Substitutes: Butland, Kelly, Hughes, Riedewald, Milivojevic, Olise (on 84′), Eze (on 84′), Edouard (on 66′), Mateta.
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