On Tuesday, there was at least 90 minutes of stillness at Old Trafford.
Manchester United defeated Crystal Palace 3-0 to advance to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, and Erik ten Hag’s club has now won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Sofyan Amrabat, a midfielder turned fullback, shined on his Man United debut, while academy graduate Dan Gore made his senior debut on his 19th birthday.
Ten Hag was also allowed to play Harry Maguire and Anthony Martial, who scored the game’s third goal, but Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford were rested. It was nearly peaceful after lurching from crisis to crisis during the campaign’s turbulent start.
“It was a good night, definitely,” Ten Hag recalled afterwards. “We dominated the game, we had some good attacks, control in possession and dominated the chances and scored great goals.”
Ten Hag had his greatest day as Man United manager when he won the Carabao Cup last season, and he will be hoping that the start of the trophy defence may spark a turnaround in fortunes for a struggling United team this season.
On Saturday, Palace will return to Old Trafford in the Premier League, the first of five home games for United until the end of October. With five of United’s next six games in all competitions taking place at Old Trafford, it’s up to Ten Hag and his players to steady the ship if they want to win it all.
What Ten Hag would give for a peaceful month and to leave the Premier League’s crisis club to someone else. Last season, around this time, United started to put together a run that brought them into contention for the top four and, briefly, the championship chase.
He’s eighth in the standings after six games, and he’d probably settle with catching the tails of Manchester City, Liverpool, Brighton, and Tottenham.
“The mood is always good, but of course when you are not winning at United there is disappointment and frustration, but the togetherness is always there,” Ten Hag said. “But we know we are not in the position we want to be, so we have to build up and catch and work on the process and the results.”
United broke a three-game losing streak against Burnley on Saturday, winning 1-0, but there were still moments of weakness at Turf Moor.
Palace, on the other hand, were never good enough to put any doubts about their defence to the test, and when Nathaniel Clyne fired a rare attempt high into the seats halfway through the second half, the travelling Palace supporters in the stadium started chanting, “We’ve had a shot, we’ve had a shot.”
“The way the game unfolded, United had complete control for long periods,” Palace manager Roy Hodgson remarked. “The truth is that we went out to tackle this game. We must recognise that things did not go as planned.”
It didn’t help that Palace custodian Dean Henderson, making his debut after a £15 million summer transfer from Manchester United, was taken out with an injury after just 20 minutes. It had been one of those evenings when nothing seemed to go right for them.
David Ozoh, a second-half substitution, had a wonderful opportunity to score a consolation late on but dragged his effort wide when it was simpler to reach the goal. The Palace supporters had long ago chosen to laugh at themselves and yelled, “We score whenever we want.”
All eyes were on Maguire, who was making his first start of the season, but he didn’t miss a beat, producing a crucial interception in the six-yard box to prevent striker Jean-Philippe Mateta a tap-in with the score at 0-0.
Following the game, Ten Hag praised Mason Mount, who played 45 minutes on his comeback to the club, and Amrabat, who filled in at left back and in the heart of midfield.
“That is one of the reasons we signed him,” stated Ten Hag of Amrabat. “Where the teams need him, he can play.”
The Jadon Sancho controversy continues in the background, and crucial players like Luke Shaw and Lisandro Martnez are still out with injuries, but it was a rare day for Ten Hag to sit down after a win and talk warmly about his squad and his players.
His post-match press conference featured a hint to the work ahead to rebuild the season, as well as a caution that “we don’t get too far ahead” – but it was still a night when United boss Jose Mourinho went home delighted.
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