Today, Crystal Palace defeated a broken Manchester United at their home ground, Selhurst Park, by 4-0, with some decisive goals from Michael Olise and Jean-Philippe Mateta – the duo that put the Eagles past the Red Devils in the English Premier League (EPL).
With this loss, Erik Ten Hag’s future is at stake as the Red Devils move into the eighth position of the English Premier League (EPL), and their chances to play in European football fade away.
Crystal Palace’s Brilliant Counter-Attacking Style
The match started in a good way for the Eagles when they first took the lead from the goal of Michael Olise in the 12th minute when he evaded a challenge from Brazilian defensive midfielder Casemiro and took a low shot just outside the penalty box of the visitors, making it 1-0 for the Eagles.
Just before halftime, the Eagles made it 2-0 with a brilliant goal from the French national Jean-Philippe Mateta, who edged past Manchester United’s Northern Irish defender Jonny Evans and blasted the ball into the nets to score his ninth goal in 11 matches under the guidance of the Eagles new Austrian manager, Oliver Glasner.
After the break, the Red Devils tried to put one goal into the hosts’ net, but their Portuguese fullback, Diego Dalot, failed to put the ball past the net. A little later in the 58th minute, the English defender Tyrick Mitchell scored a goal for the Eagles with a simple tap by scoring the goal from close range to make it 3-0 for Crystal Palace.
But the English winger Michael Olise was not done, as he added more salt to the wounds of the Red Devils by scoring in the 66th minute with a brilliant strike that the Red Devils Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre Onana was unable to keep.
Can Ten Hag’s Manchester United Recover from this Defeat?
It was a massive defeat for the Red Devils against Crystal Palace. Ahead of their FA Cup Final with their arch-rivals Manchester City, who are aiming to win the FA Cup for the 8th consecutive time, this match felt like a coffin nailed under the name of Erik Ten Hag, whose future at the club looks like genuinely being over.
In the entire match, Manchester United looked like the most depressing team in terms of their positioning, attacking style, and defensive abilities. The chaotic display by Red Devils Brazilian defensive midfielder Casemiro in central midfield was the best example of how disorganized the team is now. While the players and manager bear some responsibility for their actions in the game, questions are asked about Erik Ten Hag, who played Casemiro out of his natural position and made him suffer throughout the whole game.
Erik Ten Hag stated after the game that ‘It’s a deserved defeat. The performance wasn’t what we expected. We can’t focus on just one player [Casemiro]. We have to focus on the team performance. This was not right. We have to put it right on Sunday. We have to learn from this game and improve.’
While Red Devils Danish player Christian Eriksen said that it didn’t matter if they didn’t play well today, they have tried everything to do better, but it wasn’t enough, and he can’t blame the players for their actions on the field.
With this defeat, the Eagles climbs up to the 14th position of the English Premier League (EPL) with 43 points, and United stays in the eighth position with 54 points. It is the first time Crystal Palace has won back-to-back games against Manchester United.
Olise was Named Player of the Match
The Red Devils’ defenders could not get near him, and the English winger Michael Olise paid them a heavy price in the game by scoring two goals with consistent running throughout the United defense and finding space outside the penalty box.
