EPL: Red Devils Subdue Hard Fighting Palace as Liverpool Woes Continue
By Sakiru Olopade
Manchester United fought tooth and nail to subdue hard-fighting crystal Palace by 2 goals to 1 at Old Trafford to secure 13th consecutive home win in all competitions.
A highly entertaining game produced three goals with Red Devils having dominance until when Casemiro was sent off for violent conduct and crystal Palace capitalized on that to turn the heat on United defense but thanks to Martinez that warded off dangerous incursions on several occasions to keep the Palace’s attackers at bay.
The encounter started on fast note, with Erik Ten Hag’s side threatening the visitors defense until on the 7th minute when Will Hughes in his bid to block Rashford’s cross, handled the ball in the box. The resultant penalty kick after the VAR CHECK was stylishly converted by Bruno Fernandez for the 1st goal.
The second half saw more determined United with intense play to increase the tally with forays of attack at Palace’s goal area.
The introduction of Alejandro Garnacho who replaced Wout Weghorst paid off as he was involved in the interchange of passes that ended with Marcus Rashford tapping the ball into the yearning net from Luke Shaw’s cross for the second goal in the 62nd minute.
There was a turn of event when Casemiro, in a melee involving multiple players was sent off after lengthy VAR REVIEW in the 71st minute.
However, Jeffrey Schlupp in the 76th minute reduced the scores with a brilliant tap into the net from 6 yards during the goal mouth scramble.
The goal brought out the best in crystal Palace, desperately searching for an equalizer but United defense stood their ground until the final whistle to secure hard won victory at Old Trafford.
In the meantime, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side continued their poor run this season with 4th game without an English Premier League win and remain 10th on EPL log, losing scandalously to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux stadium by three goals to nill.
The home side, got the two goals in the 1st half through a deflected own goal from Joel Matip and Craig Dawson volley on his Wolves debut while in the 2nd half, Ruben Neves grabbed the third goal to send their fans into frenzy jubilations.
The victory had lifted Wolverhampton Wanderers from the relegation zone to be 15th position on the English Premier League log.