United Grind Out a Gritty Away Win at Palace
After that soul-crushing loss to 10-man Everton at home, Crystal Palace away felt like a proper banana peel. Honestly, if you’d asked me before the Everton game what I expected from those two fixtures, I’d have confidently said: win against Everton, maybe a point or a loss against Glasner’s solid Palace. But hey, that’s why I don’t gamble, and that’s why you can and should never have any kind of expectations from Amorim’s United. They’ll just flip the script on you.
The Dreaded Selhurst Shadows and a First-Half Snoozefest
Before we dive into the match, can we all sign a petition for Crystal Palace to never have a home game at 12:00 pm kickoff, or whenever the sun is blazing? Oh my god, those shadows were absolutely pissing me off! I’ve never complained about shadows in a real-life stadium before – only in FIFA! But seriously, it was so hard to watch players disappearing into the gloom. Maybe the stadium is just built weird, or perhaps it’s the camera angles if you’re a Palace fan. Either way, awful.
Anyway, onto the game. And what a bore-fest it was. It was genuinely tough on the eyes. We couldn’t string passes together, felt slow, and looked sluggish. Honestly, I was fully expecting us to get beaten by at least two goals.
In the first half, we had ample possession. But as we all know, whenever United has possession, we often play badly. We look clueless with the ball, especially in this game with Cunha out. His absence was definitely felt; that no-show at Altrincham for Christmas lights wasn’t just an excuse after all! Zirkzee up top, with Mbeumo and Mount as the number 10s (Mount replacing the absent Cunha).
Cunha’s crucial for that number 10 spot when we have possession. He’s the one who spears through defences, dribbling with that Brazilian _jogo bonito_ style. With him gone, we were just too calm, too pedestrian. We were clueless, like watching a Sunday league scrap, with challenges contested by both teams. As the match stats show, we ended up with 57% possession, but it often felt like we had no idea what to do with it.
Yoro’s Penalty Blunder and the Half-Time Reset
There was a massive error in the first half from Leny Yoro. He’s generally been a bit off in his last 3-4 games, not looking as crisp or fresh. You can’t really blame a 20-year-old, can you? United fans have been led to believe he’s some veteran defender, but he’s not. The expectations on Yoro are sky-high because we snatched him from Real Madrid’s grasp with an expensive transfer move. He should be cut some slack. While age shouldn’t be an excuse when playing for United, he clearly has talent, and a rough spell shouldn’t lead to too much criticism. Even top veteran defenders like Dias, Konate, and Van Dijk have bad runs.
So, Yoro’s error was huge, letting Mateta have a clear run at Lammens. To be fair, Yoro did well to unbalance Mateta, who then struck it just off target. If I were a Palace fan, I’d expect a consistent striker like Mateta to bury that.
Lammens had to make a few saves in the first half. Nothing too difficult, but the kind of shots that would make you terrified if Onana were in goal. Thankfully, he’s off enjoying his time in Turkey. Our front three didn’t offer much; we looked slow. Despite the stats showing we had 6 shots on target, it didn’t feel like we were creating much.
Around the 34th minute, Leny Yoro mistimed a tackle on Mateta, gifting Palace a clear penalty. This just reinforces that he doesn’t look sharp right now. Maybe it’s time to integrate Heaven into the squad, but Amorim hasn’t really been using him. We lack a proper right-sided centre-back or central CB cover. We have Maguire and De Ligt, who can play both. But when De Ligt is at centre-CB, apart from Leny, no one else can truly fill that role. And even though Leny is right-footed, I’ve seen him play better at left centre-back, which I’d say is his best position in Amorim’s back three. His best games have come from there, but that spot is currently taken by the ‘world-class’ Shaw. (That was sarcasm, if you didn’t catch it – he’s always been overrated by United fans, and I won’t do that). But he has been fit, and that’s crucial. He’s been solid, and with Martinez back after almost a year out, it’s good to have Shaw as backup (because I’m sure Martinez will soon reclaim his spot).
Anyway, the penalty. Mateta had to retake it after double-touching the first, and he scored again. 1-0 to Palace.
The first half just made me want the game to end. Even Palace weren’t playing great football; they looked lethargic and tired, probably from their Thursday Europa fixture. But guess who wasn’t playing on Thursday or in Europe and still looked like they had? You guessed it: United.
Second Half: A Glimmer of Intent and Set-Piece Magic
The second half, thankfully, brought some sharper play and more intent from us. Palace’s tired legs started showing, and our one-match-a-week schedule finally helped. We looked more alert (not prime Barca by any means, but definitely sharper than Palace).
Around the 50th minute, Dalot was fouled, and Bruno took a set-piece. He crossed it to the near post, straight to Zirkzee, who scored with an almost half-volley. Great control, great finish. That set-piece looked like something they’d actually worked on in training – it was really nice and fresh. Zirkzee hadn’t looked super sharp against Everton or even in this game, but that finish was class. United 1-1!
I mentioned our lack of a proper RCB cover earlier. Yoro was visibly disappointed when he was substituted, with Mazraoui replacing him. Again, Mazraoui is a right-back, not really an RCB, and he’s not physical enough for that role – though he is a good ball progressor. He’s also been out with injuries.
Dalot, for the second time, won us a free-kick, this time very close to the box, just outside the D. Would we score another? Would Bruno get another assist? Would we try another clever set-piece routine to take the lead? The answer was a resounding yes!
Bruno cleverly took the free-kick super quick as soon as the ref blew the whistle. Everyone in the world would expect Bruno to have a shot at Henderson from there. But what he did was slide the ball to Mount, who was standing next to him, and Mount put it in the bottom left corner, under the wall, while Dean Henderson was still positioning himself. Another excellent set-piece goal! Maybe we are learning a few things from Arsenal after all.
And finally, a sight for sore eyes: Martinez was back after almost 300 days! He replaced Shaw as a late substitute, a sensible way to integrate him slowly after his long injury absence. He got eight minutes, replacing Shaw, who was actually solid today.
Player Performances and Looking Ahead
Apart from the goals from Zirkzee and Mount, and the assists from Bruno, I wasn’t really happy with their overall performances. Even Mbeumo looked tired. Dalot and Shaw, on the other hand, had great games and should definitely be starting.
I don’t know if Cunha will be back, and you can’t really bench Zirkzee after that goal. But I’d love to see Cunha back in the starting lineup against West Ham, though I doubt it will happen.
Hopefully, we’ll be in a comfortable spot after the first half in the next game and give Shea Lacey his debut. I’m so excited to see this quality kid get his chance! Well, till next time, YANITED YANITED YANITED!
UNITED SCRIPTED. 
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