Man Utd conceded a last-minute equaliser to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on a night when Wout Weghorst made his debut for the club.
Wout Weghorst made his debut for United at Selhurst Park
Timid travellers
This was a familiar away day performance for United with one crucial difference. They’ve been on the right side of the fine margins recenly.
They had played themselves into a title race with a brilliant run of form but their best results and best form have come at Old Trafford rather than away from home.
Their worst performance since the thrashing at the Etihad in October was losing to Aston Villa and they were fairly unconvincing winners at Fulham and Wolves.
This game was similar to the Molineux fixture. United looked solid defensively but threatened sporadically. They thought they had done enough when Bruno Fernandes scored just before half-time and essentially shut up shop.
They offered zero attacking threat in the second half and until it was too late and although it took a moment of brilliance to deny them all three points, that is the risk you always run when you don’t kill games off.
Weghorst watch
As Aaron Wan-Bissaka worked his way into a dangerous crossing position in the first couple of minutes at Selhurst Park there was one thought that would have gone through the minds of millions of Manchester United fans: “Hit the big man.”
Wout Weghorst was lurking around the six-yard box, all 6ft 6ins of him, waiting for a cross to tuck into, but the eventual delivery was deflected and never made it to the Dutchman. But over the course of 70 minutes in south London he showed he doesn’t need to rely on crosses to make an impact for United.
Within the first few minutes he showed enough with his hold-up play and runs into the channels that he is more than a target man, as Erik ten Hag had said this week. On nine minutes he linked brilliantly with Fernandes to spark a counter and just before half-time he held possession and laid it off to Antony, who almost put Casemiro through on goal.
There was an intensity to Weghorst’s pressing against Marc Guehi and Chris Richards, as many had predicted, and he did look a more energetic, effervescent presence at No. 9 than Anthony Martial, although it should be said Ten Hag and his coaches admire the intelligence of Martial’s pressing.
There was one headed effort, the striker arching his neck to loop a difficult header onto the roof of the net, but that was it. On a night of few chances it was Weghorst’s ability to bring others into the game that stood out.
De Gea’s brilliance
The debate around David de Gea has centred on what he can’t do with his feet, rather than what he can do with his hands, so far this season.
The 32-year-old isn’t a natural fit for Ten Hag, it would be fair to say, and his ability with his feet caused some problems in that disastrous 4-0 defeat to Brentford back in August. He was also at fault for Everton’s equaliser in the FA Cup third round a couple of weeks ago.
But there have been some typically stunning saves as well and none better than tipping Odsonne Edouard’s shot onto the crossbar at Selhurst Park. You could see De Gea twist and turn his body to find a way to get fingertips to the shot, which was arriving into the net. He found a way to get just enough on the ball.
Two minutes later it was United who took a lead into the half-time interval. De Gea’s name won’t be associated with that goal, but it really should be. It should have been a game-changing moment.
Antony’s disagreements
When Lisandro Martinez went down with a head injury in the first quarter at Selhurst Park it was the cue for Ten Hag to pull Antony to the touchline to issue some pretty detailed instructions to the £85million winger.
It was early in the game for such an approach but Ten Hag’s arm movements suggested he wanted something different from the winger, who was struggling to make inroads against Tyrick Mitchell. A confrontation with the Palace full-back did lead to one impudent bit of skill, a backheel nutmeg that put Aaron Wan-Bissaka in a dangerous position.
But Antony’s next contribution was more telling. Breaking into a dangerous area he had a misunderstanding with Fernandes after taking too long to play the ball and frivolously gave possession away. United’s captain either couldn’t or didn’t want to hide his frustration, given the 22-year-old both barrels. Antony responded in kind and for a while the home crowd enjoyed the very obvious disagreements.
You can see why the Brazilian infuriates his teammates. Before half-time Weghorst had made a good run between the Palace centre-backs and into a promising position, only for Antony to take on a tame shot lacking any power or precision. It was a waste of a promising position.
Casemiro blow
With 10 minutes to go it looked like United were setting up Sunday to perfection, but then it all began to go wrong. First they lost Casemiro, then they lost the lead.
The Brazilian was deservedly booked for a crude foul on Wilfried Zaha, a yellow card which rules him out of the trip to the Emirates. Even more damagingly, United let Palace equalise in the 90th minute.
Michael Olise’s free-kick was executed brilliantly but United dropping two points gives Arsenal breathing room this weekend, rather than setting up what should have been a titanic tussle.
Source: dailylifeworld.com
