Manchester United extended their unbeaten Premier League run on home turf to nine matches thanks to a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace, a result which also cemented United’s spot in the top-four.
Crystal Palace certainly didn’t have that in the opening stages, quite the opposite in fact as a brief VAR check adjudged Will Hughes to have handled in the box, affording Bruno Fernandes the chance from 12-yards to fire United ahead, one he duly converted.
It was clear to see Palace were a side void of confidence, with their lack of creativity certainly of concern to boss Patrick Vieira, who has a long-running feud with United dating back to his Arsenal playing days.
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It didn’t prove to be such a straightforward task for United to see the game out though, with VAR adjudging Casemiro to have raised his hands at Hughes, and the Brazilian was given his marching orders.
Palace did at least give themselves a fighting chance of claiming an unlikely point when Jeffrey Schlupp rather fortuitously halved the arrears to set up a grandstand finish at Old Trafford.
As it happened, a four centre half strong back line was able to stand tall for United and see out an all important three points in their bid for a top-four finish, while Palace remain winless in the Premier League in 2023.
