London,
Monday, 6 May, 2024
McCreadie Andias
Michael Olise scored two goals as Crystal Palace thrashed Manchester United 4-0 to ensure Erik ten Hag’s side missed their chance to go sixth in the Premier League table.
The victory means that Crystal Palace have completed a first-ever Premier League double against Manchester United
A heavily weakened United backline looked immediately vulnerable to an effervescent Palace attack, and it was just 12 minutes before they cowered in the face of the tricky Olise.
Christian Eriksen and Casemiro had no answer to the silky footwork of the Frenchman, who bore down on goal and placed his eighth strike of the campaign into the bottom right corner.
Not content with just that, Olise endeavoured to add another, with his first attempt inadvertently blocked by teammate Jean-Philippe Mateta before Andre Onana came out on top in a one-on-one situation.
The visitors’ efforts to respond were timid at best, although Jarred Gillett had to step in to controversially disallow Rasmus Hojlund’s header for a foul on Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
The overall lack of involvement from the likes of Hojlund and Antony throughout the first half told a similar story, and they were once again punished for their impotency just before the break.
Chris Richards kickstarted the attack by feeding Mateta, who skated past Jonny Evans before rocketing his strike inside Onana’s near post.
An eighth goal in 11 matches under Oliver Glasner also made it a remarkable six consecutive scoring appearances in South London for Mateta, and Palace’s other attackers were keen to get in on the act following the restart.
Onana made saves from Tyrick Mitchell and Will Hughes, but he could do nothing to stop Mitchell helping it into the net after a wicked cross from Adam Wharton.
Thoughts of matching December 1972’s record 5-0 win over United began to creep in after Daniel Muñoz dispossessed Casemiro to lay off Olise, who made it four with a thunderous strike.
Nothing of note was produced in response by the away side in the final 20 minutes, and Palace cantered to the final whistle, even striking the post in stoppage time through Odsonne Edouard.
United’s heaviest defeat of the season was also their 13th of a catastrophic Premier League campaign – the Red Devils’ worst tally for 35 years. They do have a Manchester Derby FA Cup final to look forward to, while Palace fans will surely be optimistic for the new season under a manager who has injected new life into the side.
