Manchester United 1-2 Crystal Palace: 3 reasons why the Red Devils lost the match | Premier League 2019/2020
Coming off the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux last time out, fans of Manchester United would have expected their side to get back to winning ways against a Crystal Palace side who have found Old Trafford a hellish place to visit over the years.
Indeed, the Eagles had been without a victory of goal at Old Trafford for over three decades, and this would have given Solksjaer's men extra confidence heading into the tie.
The home side begun the match quickly out of the blocks, and given their full-throttle start, anyone would have been forgiven for believing that the three points were wrapped in the bag.
However, against the run of play, Ghanaian international Jordan Ayew put the visitors ahead, and despite huffing and puffing for most of the match, United could simply not find a way past Crystal Palace.
A late and spectacular equalizer by Daniel James right at the end of regulation time gave fans inside the stadium a false sense of hope that they could go on to get the equalizer, but in scenes that were absolutely gutting to watch, Patrick Van Aanholt scored a very late winner deep into stoppage time to hand all three points to Crystal Palace and pile further misery on Solskjaer.
This was a match Manchester United were largely expected to win, and in this piece, we shall be highlighting three reasons why they fell to defeat against Crystal Palace.
#3 Poor individual performances from a host of Manchester United players
Manchester United have one of the highest wage bills in the Premier League, and given the disparity in quality between the players at Manchester United and Crystal Palace, it was rather shocking to see a number of Red Devils put up a no-show in the game.
Of the 11 who started the match, only Daniel James, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka can confidently state that they had a good performance while the rest of their teammates were disappointing, to say the least.
United's attack was blunt for most of the match, and other than teeing up Daniel James for the leveller, Anthony Martial did not make any other significant contribution.
Jesse Lingard was poor as usual, and the earlier he gets out of the starting lineup, the better for United, while Harry Maguire failed to track the run of Jordan Ayew in the build-up to Crystal Palace's opener.
Paul Pogba was decent for most of the match, but he fell a victim to his overconfidence on the ball when he was robbed in midfield, leaving United out of shape in the build-up to the winning goal, while David de Gea could have done better to keep out the shot.
Perhaps most jarringly, Marcus Rashford failed to make the most of a golden opportunity offered him from the spot, smashing against the post rather than draw United level. And, given the furore raised over making him the team's penalty taker, the England international disappointed.