Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s late winner sealed an important victory for Manchester United in a dramatic and controversial game against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Paul Pogba earned the lead for the visitors, controversially scoring from an offside position after Ibrahimovic appeared to punch the ball in his direction. James McArthur finished off a terrific team move by Palace to draw them level before Ibrahimovic broke Eagles’ fans’ hearts with an 88th-minute winner from a perfectly floated Paul Pogba pass.
Also read: Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United: Player Ratings
Here are the talking points from an entertaining game at London:
#1 United dominate proceedings in the first half, but leave it late to break the deadlock
The opening 45 minutes described United’s season in a nutshell – dominate possession, create chances through the fullbacks but ultimately fail to deliver the finish. Zlatan Ibrahimovic did well dropping deep to pick out aerial balls, but that often left a void in the box, which Rooney had to fill on most occasions.
Crystal Palace, on the other hand, barely provided an attacking threat. They were short on possession and had just Christian Benteke as a realistic target when they got forward. In-form Wilfried Zaha was played out of position as a support striker for Benteke through the middle, eliminating any threat from the wing positions.
It finally paid off for Jose Mourinho’s side in first-half stoppage time, when Paul Pogba – arguably United’s best player on the pitch in the half – scored with the last kick of the half to give United a controversial, yet deserved lead.
#2 Marcos Rojo gets lucky, again
Though United’s centre-half pairing of Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo have been rock-solid over the last few weeks, one factor that will be of concern to Mourinho and the coaching staff is Rojo’s aggression when committing to slide tackles.
The Argentine was lucky to receive only a booking after his double studs-up tackle off the ground on Everton’s Idrissa Gueye in the 1-1 draw at Goodison Park, and a similarly dangerous lunge on Wilfried Zaha in the 38th minute received the same punishment, when many onlookers felt that it warranted further action from referee Craig Pawson.
Replays showed that though contact was minimal, the pace at which Rojo flew in should have resulted in a sending-off for the centre-half.
#3 Officials’ decision making comes under scrutiny
The game, entertaining though it might have been, was marred by a number of refereeing errors that benefited both sides. Though nobody could argue that United played well enough to take a lead into the second half, the manner in which they earned it will be a focal point of debate.
A teasing free-kick by Juan Mata in first-half stoppage time appeared to be directed towards goal by the hand of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, before Paul Pogba – from an offside position – drove home the loose ball to put the away side 1-0 up.
The linesman’s failure to raise the flag would definitely have incensed Alan Pardew and the Selhurst Park crowd, especially after holding United off for nearly the entire half. Joe Ledley’s handball to deny Marcos Rojo from heading a corner into the box went unnoticed and Juan Mata’s goal moments before he was substituted was incorrectly disallowed for offside.
It was an off day for the referee Craig Pawson and his team of assistants.
#4 Pardew’s decision to play Zaha up front backfires
Former United man Wilfried Zaha had been in spectacular form coming into the game, with 2 goals and 7 assists in his last seven Palace appearances. However, Pardew’s decision to start Zaha as a second striker to run off Benteke surprised many an Eagles fan.
With Eric Bailly playing his first game for United at right-back, it was the perfect opportunity for Zaha to use his pace and trickery to provide some attacking threat for Palace. In the end, Zaha turned out to be a peripheral figure for most of the game, not receiving enough service to get behind the United defence.
A short spell during which he played at left-wing in the first half showed exactly where Pardew got his tactics wrong, as the 24-year old ran the byline and put quality crosses in. Lee Chung-Yong – who occupied the left side – was nowhere near as threatening as Zaha would have been, allowing Bailly to press high up the pitch rather than worry about the Korean going forward.
#5 Paul Pogba steals the show
World-record signing Paul Pogba delivered another masterclass which showed why his boyhood club were so desperate to have him back.
Playing in a free-role, he ran the midfield – playing some wonderful passes and providing his trademark floated balls to release the centre-forward. He displayed immense strength to hold the ball against Palace’s physically strong defenders and played the perfect weighted pass for Zlatan to score a late winner.
It was a brilliant all-round performance from the French star, who continues to improve with every passing game and influence United’s style of play in the heart of midfield.
