Man United vs Crystal Palace LIVE: Result and final score after Martial, Rashford and Sancho goals
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United have enjoyed their trip to Australia so far, with heavy wins over Liverpool and Melbourne Victory, as Erik ten Hag gets to grips with his new squad and despite the continued absence of Cristiano Ronaldo. And that form continued after goals by Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho took the game away from Palace and gave Ten Hag’s new-look front-line a major confidence boost.
Palace have Covid and injury troubles but still fielded plenty of talent with Jean-Philippe Mateta leading the line alongside Jordan Ayew. The 18-year-old winger Malcolm Ebiowei got a start, as did 20-year-old Killian Phillips and 19-year-old Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, but they could not stop the Eagles from going down at the MCG, despite the consolation goal by Joel Ward.
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace 13:55 , Ben Burrows
There were 76,499 in attendance at the MCG, where Maguire’s every touch was jeered during the opening stages.
The United skipper showed impressive fortitude by responding with solid, composed defending that led to the abuse tapering off.
Those pantomime boos took attention away from some bright United play.
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Jack Butland injured his hand when impressively denying Martial and substitute Palace goalkeeper Remi Matthews was soon picking the ball out of his net.
Tyrell Malacia looked bright on his first United start and played over to Diogo Dalot, who hooked a left-footed cross in for Martial to control and strike home from close range in the 17th minute.
Malcolm Ebiowei – a player United looked at in the summer – forced De Gea into a good save but Ten Hag’s side continued to be in the ascendancy.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace 13:46 , Ben Burrows
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire was mercilessly booed by the Melbourne crowd during the opening stages of Tuesday’s promising friendly win against absentee-hit Crystal Palace.
Just a week after manager Erik ten Hag confirmed the defender would retain the armband, the 29-year-old found himself coming under fire from sections of the crowd in Australia.
Maguire had avoided a negative reaction in Bangkok and United’s first friendly at the MCG, but the centre-back was jeered during the start of Tuesday’s 3-1 victory against Patrick Vieira’s Palace.
The England international appeared to win over supporters with an impressive showing and the boos subsided during a first half that saw Anthony Martial score in a third successive friendly.
The Frenchman was involved in an excellent team goal finished off by Marcus Rashford early in the second half and flicked through for Jadon Sancho to finish another well-worked move.
David De Gea will be disappointed not to have kept out Joel Ward’s header and Will Fish was sent off but it was another largely positive night for new-look United.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace 13:14 , Lawrence Ostlere
Once again, this was not a particularly strong opponent for Erik ten Hag’s side to face. Liverpool had a heavily rotated side in the opening game while Melbourne Victory are clearly not of Premier League level and that showed in game two of the tour.
Palace were also heavily rotated here owing to nine players missing through injury or not being vaccinated and therefore unable to travel, so it was no surprise that United racked up another comfortable win. But the manner of it, with some slick goals and neat interchange between the front players, will build much-needed confidence. Goals for Sancho, Martial and Rashford will be a big boost at a time when Cristiano Ronaldo appears to be seeking a route out of the club.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace 13:10 , Lawrence Ostlere
Full-time: Manchester United continue their perfect record in preseason with a third successive victory in Australia.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace 13:09 , Lawrence Ostlere
90 min: Hannibal sparks a counter-attack but it comes to a slow as Elanga runs down a dead end.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace 13:07 , Lawrence Ostlere
87 min: This game is winding down a little after all those changes and that red card. Laird replaces Malacia.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace 13:04 , Lawrence Ostlere
A night to forget for the 19-year-old centre-half:
RED CARD! Will Fish (Manchester United) 🔴 13:01 , Lawrence Ostlere
Oh dear, the teenage defender has been shown a red card for deliberately denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace 12:56 , Lawrence Ostlere
77 min: Another raft of changes by Palace, and that’s their entire XI now replaced. For United, Hannibal gets a well-struck shot away which is straight at Matthews.
GOAL! Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace 12:52 , Lawrence Ostlere
Palace have one back! Joel Ward gets his head to a corner and squeezes the ball past De Gea.
Manchester United 3-0 Crystal Palace 12:50 , Lawrence Ostlere
68 min: Both teams have made a horde of changes. Iqbal and Savage are among those getting some minutes for United.
Manchester United 3-0 Crystal Palace 12:42 , Lawrence Ostlere
64 min: Almost a moment to celebrate for Palace, but Mateta was rightly called offside after scoring at a corner.
Manchester United 3-0 Crystal Palace 12:41 , Lawrence Ostlere
Rashford played the ball into Martial who picked out Sancho’s burst down the right side. Sancho kept his composure and slotted the ball home. That front three is having a great evening in Melbourne.
GOAL! Manchester United 3-0 Crystal Palace (Sancho) 12:40 , Lawrence Ostlere
Jadon Sancho makes it three!
Manchester United 2-0 Crystal Palace 12:31 , Lawrence Ostlere
52 min: Martial has the bit between his teeth now. He tries a cut-back to Fernandes who might have scored had he not run into Van de Beek.
Manchester United 2-0 Crystal Palace 12:29 , Lawrence Ostlere
The one-two between Martial and Sancho was sublime, and the cute pass by Van de Beek was neat to set up the finsh for Rashford.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Crystal Palace (Rashford) 12:25 , Lawrence Ostlere
An excellent goal by United and finished by Marcus Rashford. Good link up between Sancho and Martial before Van de Beek tees up Rashford to add the second.
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 12:23 , Lawrence Ostlere
Manchester United make a change at the break: Van der Beek replaces McTominay in midfield.
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 12:22 , Lawrence Ostlere
The second half is under way in Melbourne.
Half-time: Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 12:15 , Lawrence Ostlere
Petition for more sport (all sport?) to be played at the MCG:
Melbourne Cricket Ground lets off fireworks before kick-off (Getty Images)
© Provided by The Independent Half-time: Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 12:08 , Lawrence Ostlere
That Martial goal:
Anthony Martial shoots at goal (AFP via Getty Images)
© Provided by The Independent Half-time: Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 12:04 , Lawrence Ostlere
Palace youngster Phillips is booked just before the break. United lead thanks to a well-worked goal scored by Anthony Martial.
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 11:59 , Lawrence Ostlere
45 min: Fred shoot over, and a moment later Bruno Fernandes is flagged offside. There will be three minutes added on here, presumably due to a series of minor knocks through the half as well as that Martial goal.
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 11:57 , Lawrence Ostlere
42 min: Plenty of United subs are warming up, including Alex Telles (what must he be thinking after the signing of a third left-back?), Charlie Savage, Hannibal Mejbri, Donny van de Beek, Amad Diallo and Anthony Elanga.
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 11:53 , Lawrence Ostlere
39 min: Harry Maguire tries a shot on the swivel turn, and fires high over the bar. A few ironic cheers for the captain now.
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 11:52 , Lawrence Ostlere
36 min: Dalot comes forwards again down the right and picks out Sancho in the box, who can’t quite return the favour. Rashford, Sancho and Martial all looking threatening in the past few minutes.
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 11:45 , Lawrence Ostlere
32 min: Another knock here, as Martial goes down holding his head. He’s up and running soon enough, though.
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 11:44 , Luke Baker
29 min: More joy for Palace as Ebowei drives inside and plays a neat pass through to Rak-Sakyi inside the area, who fires at goal but well blocked by Maguire
Martial then goes down after a blow to the head but he’s back up and playing.
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 11:44 , Lawrence Ostlere
Martial now has three goals in three games on this tour. With his form and Dalot’s smart assist there, does Ten Hag have some solutions to potential problem positions up front and at right-back?
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 11:37 , Lawrence Ostlere
24 min: Finally a moment of light for Palace, as the teenager Ebiowei skips past Fred and forces a save from De Gea at his near post. A couple of corners follow but Palace can’t make them count, with Ayew heading wide.
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace 11:36 , Lawrence Ostlere
A clever cross from Dalot, that. Could Martial be playing his way into Ten Hag’s plans? He’s certainly made a good start to this pre-season.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace (Martial) 11:35 , Lawrence Ostlere
There it is: Anthony Martial arrives at the back post to fire home from Dalot’s cross, with a chest down and neat finish on his right foot. United lead.
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace 11:27 , Lawrence Ostlere
Some early images from Melbourne:
Erik ten Hag walks out on to Melbourne Cricket Ground before kick-off (AP)
© Provided by The Independent Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace 11:24 , Lawrence Ostlere
9 min: A chance for Martial, who links up with Fernandes this time and breaks through on goal, but Butland rushes out to save. A good stop but the keeper has stayed down with what looks like an injury to his hand.
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace 11:22 , Lawrence Ostlere
6 min: It’s a bit cagey early on. Fernandes tries to pick out Martial with a throughball but it’s intercepted by the Palace defence. Maguire, meanwhile, is getting booed by some United ‘fans’.
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace 11:18 , Lawrence Ostlere
3 min: Martial gets the first shot away but it’s well over the bar. United’s back four has Maguire on the right side of the centre-back pairing, which might suggest he will play there once new signing Lisandro Martinez beds into the side, though Raphael Varane will want a starting berth too of course, once he’s fit.
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace 11:14 , Lawrence Ostlere
United are decked out in all white, their new away strip revealed on stage in Melbourne earlier this week, which was all a bit odd. Sancho starts on the right wing with Rashford on the left and Martial leading the line.
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace 11:12 , Lawrence Ostlere
Kick-off! United get the game under way.
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace 11:09 , Lawrence Ostlere
A reminder of the line-ups:
Man Utd XI: De Gea; Dalot, Maguire, Lindelof, Malacia; McTominay, Fred, Fernandes; Sancho, Martial, Rashford
Palace XI: Butland, Clyne, Ward, Andersen, Mitchell, Rak-Sakyi, Milivojevic, Phillips, Ebiowei, Mateta, Ayew
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace 11:06 , Lawrence Ostlere
The players are out at the MCG… Just a few minutes until kick-off.
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace 10:58 , Lawrence Ostlere
It’s been a tough pre-season for Palace. Nine senior players haven’t travelled with the squad to Australia for a mixture of injury issues and lack of vaccination against Covid, and they include Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke and Cheick Doucoure – the latter is dealing with a blackmail plot against him. That explains the young team out here in Melbourne to take on United, and some great opportunities for these youngsters in the side.
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace 10:50 , Lawrence Ostlere
Patrick Vieira is keen to strengthen Crystal Palace’s squad ahead of the new season:
Erik ten Hag speaks 10:41 , Lawrence Ostlere
The Manchester United manager is familiar with Crystal Palace, having watched United lose at Selhurst Park at the end of the season. Ahead of the game today he told MUTV he is pleased with his team’s progress:
“I see progression from day to day, it has to be because, on 7th August, we have to be ready for the start of the Premier League.”
On Palace, he said: “It’s good today [to play against] a Premier League team. We got beaten in the last game of the season [by Palace] so we know we have to be good, a better performance, to get the right result.”
United have enjoyed their trip to Australia so far, with heavy wins over Liverpool and Melbourne Victory, as Erik ten Hag gets to grips with his new squad and despite the continued absence of Cristiano Ronaldo.
There were more Ronaldo stories in the press this morning, with links to Atletico Madrid being reported in Spain:
Transfer news LIVE: Latest updates as Atletico chase Cristiano Ronaldo
Crystal Palace line-up 10:24 , Lawrence Ostlere
Palace have Covid and injury troubles but still field plenty of talent with Jean-Philippe Mateta leading the line alongside Jordan Ayew. The 18-year-old winger Malcolm Ebiowei gets a start, as do 20-year-old Killian Phillips and 19-year-old Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.
Butland; Clyne, Ward, Andersen, Mitchell; Rak-Sakyi, Milivojevic, Phillips; Ebiowei, Mateta, Ayew.
Manchester United line-up 10:16 , Lawrence Ostlere
Here is how Manchester United line-up this morning (evening, in Melbourne). It will be interesting to see if it shapes up as a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 once play gets under way.
De Gea; Dalot, Maguire, Lindelof, Malacia; McTominay, Fred, Fernandes; Sancho, Martial, Rashford.
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace 10:14 , Lawrence Ostlere
Follow all the latest from the match between Premier League sides United and Palace in Australia.