Manchester United, in slow motion for more than a month, left Crystal Palace on Monday with a severe 4-0 defeat and an eighth place in the Premier League, further compromising their chances of European qualification.
The “Red Devils” (54 points) have won only one of their last seven matches, against the last Sheffield, a poor series which places them behind Newcastle (6th, 56 pts) and Chelsea (7th, 54 pts) . They still have to face Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton between now and the end of the season, in addition to Manchester City in the FA Cup final on May 25, perhaps their best chance of clinching the Europa League, From now on.
At Selhurst Park, they delivered a very poor performance under the eyes of Jean-Claude Blanc, the former general manager of Paris Saint-Germain, recently appointed interim CEO of the Premier League’s most successful club.
Powerless in attack (two shots on target) in the absence of captain Bruno Fernandes, they especially completely collapsed in defense, a sector certainly decimated by injuries. All the central defenders (Maguire, Varane, Lindelöf, Martinez, Kambwala) were missing, with the exception of veteran Jonny Evans, who returned on Monday after a month of absence and associated with defensive midfielder Casemiro.
The two men had a nightmare evening against Palace, a team in great shape (four wins in five matches) and supported by some very talented individuals, notably Michael Olise. The French international hopeful, born and raised in London, opened the scoring after bringing down Casemiro, containing the return of Kobbie Mainoo and taking advantage of a gaping hole in the defense (12th, 1-0). He did it again with a nice curled shot after a ball lost by Casemiro (66th, 4-0). In the meantime, Jean-Philippe Mateta erased Evans, too static, and crucified André Onana from the left in a tight angle (40th, 2-0).
The ninth goal scored by the Frenchman in eleven matches played under the direction of Oliver Glasner, the Austrian coach appointed in February, was followed by that of Tyrick Mitchell (58th, 3-0).