Manchester United were denied a 10th consecutive win in all competitions, suffering late a heartbreak in a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night.
The draw is a blow for United who are hoping to reduce frontrunners Arsenal’s lead at the top of the table. United will face Arsenal on Sunday in one of the biggest games this season.
Bruno Fernandes scored on the cusp of first-half stoppage time to give his side a well-deserved half-time lead, and for much of the second half, it looked as though that would be enough to propel United to yet another victory.
But Erik ten Hag’s side were dealt a cruel late blow as a stunning Michael Olise free-kick found the top right-hand corner in injury time, in a frustrating end to the night for the Reds.
The Reds still might have snatched back victory at the death, with Casemiro desperately close to applying a finishing touch to Fernandes’ corner before Garnacho’s rasping shot from the edge of the box was well held by Guaita.
United were grateful for a crucial Wan-Bissaka challenge to halt Wilfried Zaha as he went through one-on-one at the other end, as Ten Hag’s men were made to settle for a point.
There were then a couple of dreaded moments for the Reds in the final 10 minutes. First, Casemiro was booked for a challenge on Zaha late on and with that being his fifth yellow card of the season, it ruled him out of Sunday’s trip to Arsenal.
A second blow came in the first minute of stoppage-time, when Olise curled a free-kick from out of 30 yards into the top right-hand corner via the underside of the crossbar, with nothing even an inspired De Gea could do to stop it.
“We have to invest more to get that second goal and then not be in that situation where a lucky moment costs you two points,” Ten Hag told the BBC after the match.
“We were 1-0 up. In the second half, we had a lot of space to kill them and go for the second. Last time we beat Arsenal without Casemiro. We need to do it again.” – www.manutd.com
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