Manchester United humiliated by Crystal Palace
Premier League: Crystal Palace 4 Manchester United 0
ERIK ten Hag’s hopes of being at Manchester United next season suffered another crushing blow.
United’s campaign is unravelling fast and this humiliating, shambolic defeat at the hands of a vibrant Crystal Palace the latest painful demonstration of their flaws.
Ten Hag’s side were utterly exposed by Oliver Glasner’s much improved Palace side with Michael Olisee in particular outstanding. The winger tormented a dishevelled, disorganised United, scoring twice, with Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell also on target for the home side.
It was a painful watch for the United manager whose side have now won just one of their last six games and are in serious danger of missing out on European football. The nature of this loss will have caused alarm to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the co-owner, as he plots a course for next season. Alarmingly from United’s point of view, the scoreline could have been even more one-sided.
In Ten Hag’s defence, he had once again been forced to reshape his team after injuries ruled out Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes. The absence of Maguire meant Jonny Evans was the only senior centre-back still standing. Short on options, Ten Hag opted to pair Casemiro with the Northern Ireland international, his 14th different centre-back combination in the Premier League this season. It came as little surprise then, that the cracks soon began to show.
The visitors’s weaknesses were brutally exposed when Olise fired Palace into a 12th minute lead. The Palace winger collected a throw-in 40 yards from goal, easily side-stepped Casemiro who had been drawn into his more familiar midfield possession and simply ran unchallenged into the space vacated by the Brazilian
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