Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United: Road Reds wrestle back in second half

Manchester United completed a second-half comeback on the road in London on Sunday, securing a win for the first time in three matches thanks to a pair of set-piece goals in a 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace.

Ruben Amorim’s team was slow out of the gates and fell 1-0 behind despite their hosts looking similarly sluggish. Leny Yoro gave away a penalty at the half-hour mark, which Jean-Phillippe Mateta converted after two attempts at a legal spot kick.

United hadn’t won at Selhurst Park since Project Restart in 2020, when Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial both scored to help fuel a top 4 push late in the season. The five-year run ended, mercifully, with a new life after the break.

The second half could not have been more different from the first, at least in the first 20 mins or so. Not only did both teams seem to wake up a bit more, but United nicked two goals off of set piece routines.

The first was a cross near post that fell for Joshua Zirkzee. The Dutchman calmly controlled with a touch toward the byline, and then managed to fire a shot across goal on the turn, sending the ball low through Dean Henderson and into the Palace net to equalize.

The second goal was a bit more of a routine, teeing up Mason Mount with a touch wide of the wall. He then sent a shot similarly low, through the crowd of defenders who once made up the wall, into the bottom corner of Henderson’s net.

There were a few more chances to add to the lead for the Reds, but they failed to captialize on a struggling Palace and sloppy play out of the back. Bryan Mbeumo saw two chances miss, one a weak shot after the initial chance had probably passed him by, and the other a miss from a curling effort after cutting inside.

Defender Lisandro Martinez made his return to action after suffering a knee injury a year ago, replacing Luke Shaw, and there was no Manuel Ugarte cameo to ruin United’s chances of seeing out the win in the final minutes.

Far from the team’s best performance, the second-half turnaround was still a big positive for a side that has struggled to grow into matches or sustain good performances after the break.