Casemiro bagged a red card as 10-man Manchester United survived late pressure by Crystal Palace to secure a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
Erik Ten Hag went with his typical 4-2-3-1 formation with Casemiro and Fred playing deep midfield roles, to support Man United’s back four – led by Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez with Wan-Bissaka in the right and Luke Shaw at the left.
Bruno Fernandes led upfront in the central midfield role with the partnership of Antony in the right and Marcus Rashford on the left. Wout Weghorst led the attack.
Patrick Vieira played a similar 4-2-3-1 formation. Michel, Guehi, Richardas and Clyne started at the back four position.
Doucoure and Hughes played deep midfield role, while Olise, Ayew, and Schlupp lineup in the attacking midfield behind Edouard.
Starting Lineup.
Manchester United: David de Gea; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw; Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, Fred; Antony, Wout Weghorst, Marcus Rashford.
Crystal Palace: Vicente Guaita; Nathaniel Clyne, Chris Richards, Marc Guehi, Tyrick Mitchell; Cheick Oumar Doucoure, Will Hughes; Jordan Ayew, Michael Olise, Jeffrey Schlupp; Odsonne Edouard.
Manchester United had the better of the Patrick Vieira’s boys, and pressed high against the Palace defensive pact in search of an early goal.
Just six minutes into the game, United’s pressure yielded immense result when Hughes had his hand high above his head blocking Marcus Rashford’s cross into the box.
After VAR check, Man United were awarded a penalty and Bruno Fernandes made no mistake. The Portuguese star coolly stroke it to the bottom left corner sending Crystal Palace goalkeeper to the wrong direction.
After the early lead, Manchester United stayed in control of proceedings, effectively muffling the visitors.
Crystal Palace failed to have a single shot on target up to the 23rd minute, and were struggling to navigate their way through a more compact and high pressing United side.
The visitors came close to finding an equaliser late in the second half. They nearly made it count in the 43rd minute when Schlupp’s attempt looped towards the bottom right corner, but was palmed away by David De Gea.
While the Red Devils put Crystal Palace goalkeeper Guaita through stern test with frequent attempts, David De Gea lazied around on Man United goalpost early in the first half.
Despite a brilliant first half perfomance, Manchester United failed to double the lead and went into the break with the narrow 1-0 lead.
Crystal Palace started the second half on a good note trying to find a way back into the game, but the Red Devils looked less threatened with Varane and Lisandro Martinez easily foiling challenge by Edouard and Olise.
Patrick Vieira made a bold move against the home side. The team wrestled more for ball possession and made brave attempts to launch attacks.
Meanwhile, they were overly vulnerable when charging forward, opening up the midfield and allowing United to make swift counter-attack to double the lead.
Watch until the end… Casemiro’s red card needs to get overturned! pic.twitter.com/5hdbbBd9zc
— ًEl. (@UtdEIIis) February 4, 2023
After seemingly losing his balance against Palace in the second half, Erik Ten Hag made a swift change in Man United attack taking off Wout Weghorst and bringing on Alejandro Garnacho in the 59th minute.
Marcus Rashford now moved into the central attacking position, whIle Garnacho took up his position on the left wing.
Just three minutes after the substitution, Marcus Rashford doubled the lead for the Red Devils in the 62nd minute.
In the 70th minute, Manchester United suffered a heavy blow when Casemiro sent off after VAR footage shows the Brazil international clinging to the neck of Hughes.
After the red card, Schlupp put one back for Crystal Palace in the 76th minute bringing the scoreline to 2-1, but 10-man Manchester United survived late pressure and held on to secure all three points after the final whistle.
The win has seen Manchester United consolidate their position on the top four race in the Premier League.
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