Manchester United’s dismal home performance this season persisted as they suffered a 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.
Despite United chasing a fourth successive win in all competitions, During the first half at Old Trafford, Palace was by far the better team and missed many opportunities to take advantage of their dominance.
Jean-Philippe Mateta was the quickest to react after the ball had rebounded off the crossbar, giving the away team a justifiable lead, and the visitors finally scored in the 64th minute.
United upped the ante in search of an equalizer but lacked ideas, with Mateta condemning the hosts to a seventh home league loss and 11th in total this term with a second goal that sealed the victory for Palace, helping them climb above 13th-placed United into 12th in the standings.
The outcome is unsatisfactory,” stated the Manchester United coach following the defeat. “The performance was somewhat improved compared to previous matches. We controlled the transitions quite well for Crystal Palace.
“It’s normal for the fans to feel negative, it is a hard season for them but football can change in certain moments. I will prepare the next game and move forward. Better things will come.”
United came into Sunday’s encounter on the back of their best run under new manager Ruben Amorim, having secured a third successive win in all competitions at Steaua Bucharest on Thursday in the Europa League.
Since assuming the role of manager in late November, Amorim has yet to experience consecutive league victories. No United manager since Tommy Docherty in 1972-73 has had to wait so long to achieve that.
After a pre-match tribute to those who died in the Munich air disaster 67 years ago, Kobbie Mainoo, playing in an unfamiliar central striker role, went close to giving United the perfect start, striking the post with a deflected shot.
With defenders Daniel Muñoz and Tyrick Mitchell coming close to opening the scoring, Palace, who had won four of their previous five away games, appeared more dangerous early on.
As halftime drew near, André Onana made a spectacular stop to deny Mateta as the visitors pressed.
After failing to score in the first half of a league game once more, marking 18 goalless opening periods in 24 games this season, United needed to improve. However, they rallied back after the half time break.
Mateta’s close-range strike after Maxence Lacroix’s header struck the crossbar was what the visitors’ effort deserved, but Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was eventually brought into action, making deft stops to deny Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte.
The away fans were in raptures as Mateta finished off a Palace break in the 89th minute, but despite all of their pressure, United’s opportunities did not come to pass.
Lisandro Martínez, a defender for United, appeared to have suffered a major knee injury and was taken out on a stretcher during the second half.
