Man Utd 1-3 Crystal Palace: 5 Talking Points As Abject Red Devils Comfortably Defeated

Manchester United crashed to defeat in their first Premier League game, as Crystal Palace won at Old Trafford for the second season in a row.

Former United striker Wilfried Zaha scored two goals in the second half, one of them a repeated and controversially awarded penalty, as the Eagles comfortably defeated Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

Solskjaer’s men were abject at all times, playing without rhythm or fluency.

At half-time they found themselves lagging behind thanks to Andros Townsend’s close-range spike and creating few chances themselves.

Zaha deservedly doubled the lead midway through the second half, scoring from the spot from the VAR intervention.

First, Martin Atkinson conceded a handball penalty against Victor Lindelof after seeing a monitor, but when David de Gea denied Jordan Ayew, the Spaniard was penalized for intrusion and Zaha was not wrong.

Donny van de Beek came off the bench to score on his debut, but Zaha secured all three points with a clinical finish at the end after proving too strong for Lindelof.

Hodgson’s men move to six points in their first two games, but United will have to do much, much better in their attempt to get closer to Liverpool and Manchester City.

A new central could help.

Here are five talking points from Old Trafford …

Dan James’ struggles continue

The Welshman received a surprise start from the right, with Mason Greenwood alone on the substitute bench.

But James, who after a brilliant start initially seemed somewhat intimidated towards the end of last season, had little impact.

His struggle to play into small pockets sees him looking to stay on the touchline, especially when he’s on the right flank.

And young winger Tyreek Mitchell felt comfortable during the first half match.

A missed opportunity.

United midfield balance

The only thing that was really impressive about United after Project Restart was the relationship that developed between Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba.

When United were red hot, that couple, playing together, were wonderful and clearly appreciated each other.

But they didn’t pick up where they left off against Palace.

Pogba, along with Scott McTominay, was too deep to really influence the game, and the distance between him and the Portuguese was simply too great to dominate the Palace. There weren’t enough times they were able to connect, and almost none in the last third.

Perhaps Pogba, after only a week of being back in training, was not as fit as his manager thought? That may well have played a role.

Solskjaer needs to find the right balance in midfield, but it wasn’t quite.

A nightmare for the United defense

If Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire are going to be Solskjaer’s first-choice couple and stay there, then they need to improve fast.

Because this was horrible. Absolutely shocking. From both.

Forget the penalty they gave Lindelof. Just ignore him.

The rest of the game, the two of them were all over the place.

Positioning was terrible on several points from both: Maguire was lazy by not covering space on the first goal, they battled for speed against Jordan Ayew and Zaha, but continued to get into foot races with the two Palace forwards.

His fainting from behind was largely neglected, and he was not particularly dominant in the air or on the tackle, as Lindelof demonstrates in the third goal.

United has every right to hope for better.

Zaha leaves her mark

Wilfried Zaha made just four appearances for Manchester United and failed to make his mark at Old Trafford.

This time, on their return, they both went to the front and wore the Eagles captain’s armband.

And he had a winning performance.

His penalty was taken with poise, his second was shot hard and low and into the bottom corner, but more than his goals it was outstanding.

Unrestricted to the left side, he worked along the line, used his skill and speed to terrify the United defense, but also showed intelligence to bring others into play and strength to maintain possession and put his side on the field. .

An excellent full screen.

VARcical

Martin Atkinson’s decision to give a handball penalty against Lindelof was pretty bad.

The decision after De Gea had denied Ayew ordering a restart, by goalkeeper intrusion, from which Zaha scored, was arguably worse.

“That’s an absolute shame,” Gary Neville said. “We are talking about millimeters. This is incredible.”