Wilfried Zaha scored twice as Crystal Palace earned a deserving 3-1 win over sloppy, disinterested Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Andros Townsend opened the scoring before Zaha’s penalty made it 2-0. Substitute debutant Donny van de Beek took one back for 0-1 United before ex-Red Devils winger Zaha iced the three points.
The win was Palace’s second-straight at Old Trafford after the South London side went 30 years between wins at the Theater of Dreams. Patrick van Aanholt keyed a Palace upset of the Red Devils in August 2019.
Donny van de Beek came on for his United debut in the second period and the Netherlands midfielder reduced the deficit with a well-taken effort (80), but Zaha's superb finish (85) ensured a second successive victory for Palace at Old Trafford.
The result keeps the visitors perfect this season with two wins from two while United suffered their first league defeat in 15 Premier League games stretching back to January.
This was the first time in six years that United lost their opening game of the season and co-commentator Gary Neville described his former club as looking "knackered" as they fought in vain to salvage something in the second half. "That is an absolute disgrace" said Neville. "This is unbelievable."
This was a personal triumph for Zaha, who removed any of the controversy that may have lingered after the second-half penalty drama as he brilliantly stretched Palace's lead with five minutes remaining as United fell short in their belated Premier League curtain-raiser.
Despite having 74 per cent possession, United had just two shots on target in the opening half while Paul Pogba's 28 touches had him very much on the periphery.
Their best chances came through shots from distance as Pogba brought a routine save from Vicente Guaita before Scott McTominay's shot veered a yard wide of the post, but Palace's organised defence was not overly worked.
Pogba was struggling to influence proceedings as Solskjaer summoned Mason Greenwood from the bench. United had been losing at half-time on 10 occasions in the league last term, and they failed to recover to win on any of those occasions - and there was little upon the restart to indicate that unwanted record was about to improve.
It took until the 60th minute for United to carve up a chance, but when it arrived they ought to have restored parity as Greenwood glaringly headed wide from close range following Timothy Fosu-Mensah's cross.
Player ratings
Man Utd: de Gea (6), Fosu-Mensah (6), Lindelof (5), Maguire (5), Shaw (5), Pogba (5), McTominay (6), Rashford (5), Bruno Fernandes (6), James (4), Martial (5).
Subs: Greenwood (5), van de Beek (6).
Crystal Palace: Guaita (7), Ward (8), Kouyate (7), Sakho (7), Mitchell (8), Townsend (7), McArthur (7), McCarthy (8), Schlupp (7), Zaha (9), Ayew (7).
Subs: Batshuayi (n/a), Eze (n/a).
Man of the match: Wilfried Zaha.
Palace penalty
In the game's major flashpoint, referee Martin Atkinson awarded Palace a penalty after VAR Jon Moss instructed him to consult his pitch-side monitor. Jordan Ayew's cross deflected off the arm of Victor Lindelof, but after Ayew's spot-kick was saved by David de Gea, the Spaniard was deemed to have encroached on the taker.
With Palace's regular penalty-taker Luka Milivojevic off the pitch, Zaha stepped up and rifled his attempt high above De Gea to intensify United's problems.
But five minutes later, it was game on as Van de Beek capitalised on a hashed clearance by Mamadou Sakho to finish first time beyond Guaita and breathe life into his new team.
The reprieve was short-lived as Zaha quickly sapped any hope of an undeserved equaliser out of them with an emphatic low drive at De Gea's near post to compound United's misery.
Team news
Wilfried Zaha captained Crystal Palace in a competitive match for the first time at former club Manchester United. Mamadou Sakho replaced Scott Dann in the only change from the 1-0 win over Southampton.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer named new boy Donny van de Beek on the bench and plumped for David De Gea in goal ahead of Dean Henderson. Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Daniel James and Scott McTominay were among the starters for United, whose former player Zaha skippered Roy Hodgson's men.
What's next?
Manchester United travel to face Luton Town in the Carabao Cup third round on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports (kick-off 8.15pm). Brighton host United in the Premier League next Saturday at 12.30pm.
Crystal Palace host Everton next Saturday at 3pm in the Premier League.
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