Manchester United were booed after losing for the fourth time in six Premier League outings as their miserable start to the season took another turn for the worse.
Joachim Andersen’s 25th minute goal - a fine volley from a cheaply conceded free-kick United also failed to clear - earned Crystal Palace their third win in their past five visits to Old Trafford.
Having gone unbeaten for 13 months in domestic competition at Old Trafford, United have now lost back-to-back league home games with this latest substandard display following the 3-1 defeat to Brighton. A chorus of boos greeted the final whistle.
Erik ten Hag substituted Marcus Rashford and Mason Mount, both of whom had been poor, in the 77th minute with his side chasing the game but United again looked hopelessly short of ideas and imagination going forward.
With two minutes of normal time remaining, Ten Hag threw on Donny van de Beek - a player so out of the picture he was not even included in United’s Champions League - and Harry Maguire, who spent the four minutes of stoppages playing as a makeshift striker. It summed up the desperation of United’s situation.
They have scored just seven goals in as many Premier League matches this term while shipping 11 at the other end and host Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday in a game they really need to win.
Palace - who made seven changes to the team that lost 3-0 to United in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday - were organised, dogged and compact defensively and United routinely struggled to break them down.
Sam Johnstone made good saves to deny Bruno Fernandes and Rasmus Hojlund in the second half and Alejandro Garnacho, who was United’s liveliest player off the bench, had a goalbound shot blocked late on Palace’s goal. Andre Onana beat away a rasping drive from Will Hughes, Jeffrey Schlupp headed just wide from a corner and Eberechi Eze, whose running on the transition was a threat, shot narrowly wide.
This was another of those performances that leave you wondering what it is United do on the training pitch most weeks. Rashford, Mount and Casemiro were all disappointing and Hojlund got short change out of Palace’s excellent centre-half pairing of Marc Guehi and Anderson.
Palace’s goal was so avoidable from United’s perspective. Casemiro had first invited trouble by giving the ball away needlessly as he tried to carry it out of trouble just outside the penalty area. So that was mistake one. Then Sofyan Amrabat conceded a cheap foul on Jordan Ayew when the Palace forward was going nowhere. Mistake two. The subsequent free-kick by Eberechi Eze was far from the best but Rasmus Hojlund completely missed his intended clear header as the ball flew past a number of red shirts to the far side where Anderson hooked home a thumping shot on the volley.
