Manchester United 1-3 Crystal Palace: 5 players who fared poorly for the Red Devils in the 2020-21 Premier League season opener

By Deepungsu Pandit

Modified Sep 19, 2020 20:52 GMT

Manchester United vs Crystal Palace - Premier League

#3 Anthony Martial

Anthony Martial had transformed into a Manchester United talisman by the end of last season.

In a team that boasted the likes of Rashford, Pogba, Greenwood and Fernandes, it was the Frenchman who brought the goals, scoring 23 times and developing into a terrific number nine for the Red Devils. After having a similar impact for his country over the summer, Solskjaer must have hoped that Martial would have picked up where he left off at the end of last season. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

The Frenchman cut an isolated figure in the final-third as Palace successfully teamed up to crowd him out. The away side denied Martial the space to run into and allowed him very few sniffs at goal. But Martial is talented enough to make the most out of such situations. It was simply a case of a lack of concentration from the Frenchman on the night.

Martial did not link up well with his midfield too. His off-the-ball runs were missing and more often than not, his positioning worked in favour of the Crystal Palace defence. In a game where Manchester United struggled to create chances, Solskjaer would have wanted his main striker to have put in a little more effort. Sadly, Martial failed to have an impact on the game.

#2 Marcus Rashford

The curious case of Marcus Rashford continues to drag on beyond the summer. The Englishman was unstoppable in the first half of last season before a back injury brought an abrupt halt to his game-time.

Since returning from his injury, Rashford has struggled to replicate his old form. Nevertheless, Solskjaer put his trust on his number ten despite the latter's recent indifferent performances, but right now, time and patience are both running out for the English striker.

The Englishman started in his favoured left-forward position against Palace, but by the end of the game, he had supporters scratching their heads trying to figure out his contributions during the 90 minutes.

Rashford was blunt in attack, and even with the ever-eager Luke Shaw powering him from the back, the striker could not stamp his authority on the game. He switched positions, dropped deep and even tried a few one-twos with Martial. But none of his tricks and flicks worked on the night.

His poor form has begun to hurt his teammates as well. Against Palace, he was undoubtedly one of the poorest Manchester United players on the pitch.

#1 Victor Lindelof

While the rest of the world is desperate for Manchester United to sign Jadon Sancho, pundits have pointed out that a new centre-back should also be high up on the agenda for the Red Devils.

Despite having the third-best defence in the league last season, it was clear that a central defensive partner for Harry Maguire would vastly improve the team. However, with no recruitments on the horizon, Solskjaer opted for Victor Lindelof alongside Maguire, but by the end of the game, the Norwegian was perhaps ruing his decision.

Lindelof was nervous as usual, and his lack of desire and hunger for combat cost Manchester United dearly against Crystal Palace. He put David De Gea and the midfield under undue pressure with poor passes, and some of his decision-making must have left Manchester United fans cringing in their seats.

For the first Crystal Palace goal, Lindelof should have cut off the pass from Jeffrey Schlupp that led to Townsend opening the scoring for the visitors. The Swede was probably a little unlucky for the second goal as he conceded a penalty after the ball hit his hand. But Lindelof was totally at fault for the third Crystal Palace goal as he failed to clear the ball and then allowed Wilfried Zaha to manhandle him.

With a little over two weeks of the transfer window left, Lindelof’s performance against Crytal Palace might force Manchester United to rethink their transfer targets for the season. The Swede was the poorest player on the pitch and cost Manchester United the game.

Edited by Bhargav