Manchester United were beaten 2-0 by fellow mid-table side Crystal Palace, after a confusing decision from Ruben Amorim regarding the non-selection of strikers.
If United‘s forward woes were not already apparent, this game offered up further evidence. Over £100million worth of striker talent in Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund was left on the bench from the start, with 19-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo spending much of the game the furthest up the field.
In the first half, of United’s 10 shots, a grand total of zero found their way towards Dean Henderson’s goal and only two did in the second half.
Palace’s radar was not much better configured, but they crucially made two of their shots count, firstly when Maxence Lacroix rose above the United defence in the 64th minute and hit the crossbar, with the ball falling to Jean-Philippe Mateta to open the scoring for the Eagles.
The same man put the final nail in United’s coffin just before the 90 minutes were up by tapping in a move begun by a poor Zirkzee pass.
Now 13th in the league, the Red Devils are crying out for change, and if no new signings walk through the door before the transfer deadline, they look hard pressed to find it this season.
Amorim still feels things will turn around despite his admission that his side were poor against Palace.
“The result is really bad. The performance was a little bit better than the last games. We controlled the transitions quite well for Crystal Palace. We suffered two goals that we can avoid and the injury on Lisandro Martinez was tough for the team,” he said.
“It’s normal for the fans to feel negative, it is a hard season for them but football can change in certain moments. I will prepare the next game and move forward. Better things will come.”
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