Wilfried Zaha returned to haunt former club Manchester United in their season opener, with Crystal Palace’s deserved 3-1 victory underlining the need for improvements at Old Trafford.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer led the Red Devils to three cup semi-finals and third in the Premier League during a promising first full season in the hotseat, but a lack of transfer activity has since led to growing fan discontent.
Saturday’s season opener offered precious little relief from that pressure as United fell to a shock loss to Palace at an empty Old Trafford, where their former winger Zaha netted twice amid VAR drama.
Solskjaer’s side struggled throughout an evening that started with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward saying the club had to be responsible with their resources given the challenges posed by Covid-19.
But the performance that followed only highlighted the need to improve, with Palace winning at Old Trafford for the second successive season – and few could argue with the result.
Andros Townsend capitalised on poor defending to give the Eagles an early lead that Zaha added to after a farcical period of video assistant referee intervention.
De Gea saved Jordan Ayew’s spot-kick after referee Martin Atkinson had checked the pitchside monitor and adjudged Victor Lindelof to have handled, only for Palace to be granted another attempt for the United goalkeeper marginally straying off his line.
Zaha slammed home the retaken spot-kick and, having seen United debutant Donny van de Beek pull one back, fired home another as his first match in the captain’s armband ended with a dream win at the place he used to call home.
Few expected Roy Hodgson’s men to make it back-to-back Premier League wins on Saturday, even though this was their third competitive match of a season that United were only just starting.
But that extra sharpness was evident from the outset, with De Gea breathing a sigh of relief after passing straight to an opposition player in a match that was only seven minutes old when the Eagles scored.
Tyrick Mitchell’s clipped pass down the left found Jeffrey Schlupp and Lindelof failed to deal with the threat, allowing the Palace man to fire in a low cross from the left that Townsend beat Luke Shaw to at the far post.
It was a smart finish but an avoida

Former Liverpool youngster Jordon Ibe is set to undergo a medical at Derby County ahead of signing a two-year deal at the Championship club, it has been reported.
Ibe was released by Bournemouth at the end of last season after a difficult four seasons on and off the pitch in which he scored just three Premier League goals.
In his final campaign at the Vitality Stadium, he played just four matches in all competitions and failed to score a single goal.
Ibe enjoyed a loan spell at Derby County back in 2014-15, playing 20 Championship games
The 24-year-old spoke out about the difficulties of his time at the club in a recent podcast interview, admitting he was affected by online abuse and failed to click with manager Eddie Howe.
He also spent time in rehab for his mental health after crashing his £130,000 Bentley supercar into a cafe.
He was charged with driving without due care and attention and failing to stop at the scene of an accident last November.
Ibe is now set for pastures new and will return to one of his former clubs in Derby County, according to the Telegraph.
He moved to Anfield as a 16-year-old and has previously spent a season on loan at Pride Park
The forward spent a season on loan there from Liverpool in 2014-15, scoring five goals in 20 Championship appearances.
He is set to sign a two-year contract under Phillip Cocu and is likely to go straight into the squad for the home game against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
The end of October sees Derby travel to the south coast to face Bournemouth, where Ibe could come up against his former club.
The England youth star cost the Cherries £15million when he arrived from Anfield, but failed to hit the heights expected of him in the Premier League.
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