And we're going to win the league 🙌.

Okay, sarcasm aside but losing to Man Utd and Oliver Glasner deserves the sack 🤷‍♂️.

Alright that was the last one 😅.

You can tell I'm feeling good 😁.

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United do the seemingly unthinkable and actually get a win at Selhurst Park, a stadium in which we hadn't won at since 2020 and against a side that we hadn't scored against in four matches.

After what was one of those performances against Everton on Monday night, it was understandable if you weren't feeling confident ahead of this one. I certainly wasn't.

With United being such a hard team to predict, you didn't know what to expect from a side that had won just 12 matches in a year under Ruben Amorim. We've also had just one away win all season but that came at Anfield so stranger things have happened.

Ngl though, this was a weird game.

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Lineup

The manager only made two changes to the side that was an embarrassment to the shirt at Old Trafford last time out with many looking at that and thinking it's not enough.

Dalot replaced Dorgu at LWB and Mount came in for Mazraoui with Amad moving back to RWB. Zirkzee with his second start in two games as with the injuries to Cunha and Sesko, Amorim appeared to have no other choice.

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I thought that the lineup was a disgrace. Every player could've been dropped and no one could've said otherwise. For Amorim to then make just two changes to that XI was borderline sackable and it's not as if those coming in would fill us with much confidence.

I don't think he can keep getting away with this.

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First Half

This was a continuation of the Everton performance. No fight. No urgency. No intensity, which is something that the manager said needed to improve as it has been inconsistent this season.

To say that and then see what we saw was a complete contradiction because there was no reaction whatsoever.

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While the opening 10 minutes was okay from the away side, it seemed as if the hosts were still recovering after playing Thursday-Sunday football resulting in us having a good start. United had a chance not long after the game began as a long throw-in saw Csemiro almost put the ball in the back of the net after a bit of a scramble. Ex-Red Dean Henderson made a good save to keep him out.

However, after those 10 minutes, it really was all Palace.

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They started to get control of the game with United target Adam Wharton dictating the play in midfield. While the Eagles may not have created too many clear-cut chances thanks to good blocks, the home side didn't score.

However, speaking of Wharton, it was the midfielder's pass that led to a penalty just after half-an-hour. A ball through the lines saw striker Jean-Phillipe Mateta spin Yoro who then fouled him in the box.

Mateta converted the spot kick but after a VAR review, it was confirmed that he double-touched the ball resulting in a retake. There was no issues second time round as he sent Lammens in the opposite direction once more.

1-0 Palace and we started to fear the worst.

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Thankfully, they didn't end up using this momentum and some good defending by United kept the hosts out.

Heading into the break behind though, and Amorim had it all to do in the second 45.

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Second Half

Being a goal down always means you still have a chance but with our poor second half record and overall performance, United really needed to up their game.

Unfortunately, there wasn't too much of a difference at the start of the half causing us to think that this was another incoming defeat but what truly helped United was that it appeared as if Palace were starting to feel the full effects of playing in France just two-and-a-half days ago.

They faded and United grew more into the game.

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Amorim did also make an early substitution as Yoro was taken off for Mazraoui in the 54th minute after a poor performance and concession of the penalty.

I won't say that this was when we started to kick on but it was more a coincidence that from that time in the match, that's when we started to see a United side play with a bit more confidence.

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That change happened and in the same minute, Zirkzee popped up with a wonderful equalizer. A free-kick to the near post by captain Bruno was met by the Dutchman who controlled it on his chest and hit it with his left-foot on the half-volley. A sweet strike from a tight angle that left Henderson with no chance.

A big goal for big Josh that could do wonders for his confidence.

1-1 and we were back in the game.

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The Eagles looked to have lost all their momentum from the first half and couldn't get going as they hardly troubled us all half. Just 10 minutes after Zirkzee's goal, another man who perhaps needed a goal in Mount stepped up from a quick free-kick routine.

After a foul on Dalot on the edge of the box, Bruno and the no 7 stood over the ball in the hopes of trying to take the lead. Some quick thinking by the skipper led to a layoff to Mount who hit the ball through the wall and into the near post as an unsuspecting Henderson was caught by surprise as the ball ended up in the back of the net.

Completely unforeseen but United had taken the lead!

An important strike for all involved with United as it gave us something to hold on to.

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With Palace looking out of it, they found it difficult to create anything of note. Amorim felt comfortable enough in the game to bring on the butcher Lisandro Martinez for his first appearance since his ACL injury against Palace last season.

So good to see him back 🙌. He came on for Shaw.

The game then fizzled out as neither side looked like scoring again leaving United to take home the 3 points.

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Verdict on Amorim

As I said, the starting XI was questionable and if you look at the overall performance, it wasn't amazing. A lot of the football was very Stoke-like with long balls, long throw-ins and set-pieces being the key to our attacks.

There was no patterns of play, we looked flat in the first half, we relied on two free-kicks to score and also Palace running out of steam in the second period to get this result.

I think subbing Yoro off when he did was pathetic because how many others have played poorly only to continue to play and start the next game? The knock on this young player's confidence could be significant.

I also believe Amorim got away with one in this match.

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However, on the other hand, we did win.

Despite reservations about Zirkzee, he scored and it was an important goal for us at the time. The team did improve in the second 45 and we took advantage of Palace playing on Thursday night so there were some elements that were good.

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This type of football though, the selections, substitutions are all short-term. They can work in the odd game but how sustainable is it?

His treatment of young players is atrocious too as we had that Yoro example, what he said in his pre-match press conference regarding being "anxious" whenever Dorgu has possession and how he's completely cast side Mainoo suggests he isn't a manager who cares much about the youth. He also brought the latter two on with just 4 minutes to go.

What the fuck are they going to do in that time? I don't think Mainoo even touched the ball.

Some of the things Amorim says and does are contradictory and it makes you wonder whether he is the guy at all even after wins like these.

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Ratings

Lammens - 6

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Yoro - 5

De Ligt - 5

Shaw - 6.5 MOTM

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Amad - 5

Bruno - 6

Casemiro - 5.5

Dalot - 6

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Mbeumo - 5

Mount - 6.5

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Zirkzee - 6.5

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Mazraoui - 6

Martinez - 6

Dorgu - 6

Mainoo - 6

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Ruben Amorim - 5

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Final Thoughts

A very difficult game to discuss.

On the one hand, the performance was awful and the football was not what we want to see, but we won, so I don't know how to feel.

This was an important victory and at least we got the 3 points but moving forward, we cannot play like this. Even if we get a good win we know that in the near future, there will be another Everton.

We do have to try and make this win count and go on another good run but you just never know with this United side.

For today, let's just take the result and move on. Tomorrow, we can start to look more in-depth ahead of the West Ham game on Thursday.

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Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount score as Man Utd beat Crystal Palace 2-1 | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)