Crystal Palace 4 Manchester United 0

On a fateful day at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace stunned the football world by dismantling Manchester United with a resounding 4-0 victory. The Eagles soared high as they outplayed and outclassed the Red Devils in every aspect of the game.

From the first whistle, Crystal Palace showed their intent as they pressed relentlessly and attacked with purpose. Their efforts were rewarded when Andros Townsend opened the scoring with a thunderous strike that left David De Gea rooted to his spot. Wilfried Zaha then doubled the lead with a clinical finish before Townsend added another goal to his tally.

The hosts started as the better side and dominated possession from kick off. Michael Olise then opened the scoring in the 12th minute, cutting inside Casemiro and slotting home from inside the box. From there Palace never looked back. Jean-Philippe Mateta continued his amazing home form by darting in behind and blasting a strike past Andre Onana as United’s defence fell apart repeatedly.

The second half brought more goals. From a short corner Adam Wharton picked out Joachim Andersen at the far post who turned the ball across to Tyrick Mitchell for a tap-in. Olise then scored his second, Palace’s fourth, after Casemiro – who had a night to forget – was bungled off the ball deep in his own half. Daniel Munoz squared a pass and Olise rocketed a strike from range past Onana again.

Manchester United have been hit hard by injuries all season long and were forced to again play Casemiro at center back, but this performance carried no hope of overcoming the absent quality.

Ten Hag’s team has 54 points, below seventh-place Chelsea on goal differential and two points behind Newcastle United. The Red Devils also have an FA Cup Final against Manchester City and that could end up being their best route to Europe, which is stunning for a side that finished third last season.

This was the fourth defeat in 2024, so far," said Ten Hag after the match. "You have always seen a team that was following a script, we had a lot of wins and were hard to beat, and today we weren't hard to beat.

"It's very disappointing, the worst defeat, they should've done better. It was not correct, making big mistakes, not following the plan and script and the moves we have. We can make mistakes, but we didn't cover each other and it was a bad defeat."

The double substitution of Olise and Eze to a standing ovation ended the torment of United’s defenders for the evening. To their credit, the away supporters kept singing until the bitter end but it remains to be seen if their manager can survive beyond this campaign.

Read more

Sarah H

Also on site :

• Cagliari vs. Fiorentina - prediction, free online live stream , lineups
• Watch Getafe vs. Real Madrid live - prediction & lineups
• Arsenal vs Crystal Palace Prediction & live stream Info