When you go to Old Trafford as a side who aren’t one of the stereotypical ‘big six’ you certainly need lady luck on your side.
Crystal Palace certainly didn’t have that in the opening stages, quite the opposite in fact as a brief VAR check adjudged Will Hughes to have handled in the box, affording Bruno Fernandes the chance from 12-yards to fire United ahead, one he duly converted.
It was clear to see Palace were a side void of confidence, with their lack of creativity certainly of concern to boss Patrick Vieira, who has a long-running feud with United dating back to his Arsenal playing days.
United could count themselves slightly unlucky not to take a two-goal advantage into the break, but Fred could only steer an effort just wide after some smart work from Wout Weghorst.
Palace looked a little brighter after the break and were starting to look a bit more dangerous in and around the penalty area.
However, their endeavours were soon diffused when the man of the moment Marcus Rashford was on hand to slam home United’s second of the afternoon to leave Palace with a mountain to climb to get back into the game.
It didn’t prove to be such a straightforward task for United to see the game out though, with VAR adjudging Casemiro to have raised his hands at Hughes, and the Brazilian was given his marching orders.
Palace did at least give themselves a fighting chance of claiming an unlikely point when Jeffrey Schlupp rather fortuitously halved the arrears to set up a grandstand finish at Old Trafford.
As it happened, a four-centre-half strong back line was able to stand tall for United and see out an all-important three points in their bid for a top-four finish, while Palace remain winless in the Premier League in 2023.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
