Manchester United’s miserable home form continued as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat against Crystal Palace, marking their fifth Premier League loss at Old Trafford in just six matches. Jean-Philippe Mateta’s second-half double secured a statement victory for Oliver Glasner’s side, who have now triumphed four times at the Theatre of Dreams in their last six visits.
With Marcus Rashford edging closer to a move to Aston Villa, United boss Ruben Amorim made the bold call to leave £100m worth of attacking talent—Rasmus Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee—on the bench.
But rather, he opted for an unorthodox false nine system with Kobbie Mainoo leading the line. While the Red Devils started brightly, the tactical experiment ultimately fell flat, and Palace soon seized control.
Eberechi Eze, expected to miss the game through injury, emerged from the bench to deliver a pinpoint free-kick in the 64th minute. Maxence Lacroix’s header rattled the crossbar, and as Andre Onana scrambled to recover, Mateta was first to react, poking the ball into an empty net. The French forward then doubled his tally in stoppage time, calmly finishing Daniel Muñoz’s low cross to seal Palace’s third consecutive away win—their best run since 2019.
Adding to United’s woes, Lisandro Martínez was stretchered off in tears after a nasty collision with Ismaïla Sarr. Amorim’s side remain stuck in 13th place, still unable to string together consecutive league wins.
