Erik ten Hag never does things the easy way. The Manchester United manager had complimented Marcus Rashford’s improved attitude but left him on the bench and then watched his replacement, Alejandro Garnacho, fail to find a way past the outstanding Dean Henderson, who was inspired against his former club.
By the time Rashford made it on to the pitch in the second half, a strangely off-colour Crystal Palace had finally woken up and United needed a brilliant double save from André Onana to avoid a second successive defeat in south London against Oliver Glasner’s side. Lisandro Martínez was fortunate to escape a red card for a reckless challenge on Daichi Kamada but at least this was a much-improved display from the 4-0 debacle here in May that was the low point of last season under Ten Hag, with United’s defence standing firm in the face of late pressure.
