EFL Cup: United impress against Palace
Manchester United 3 - 0 Crystal Palace
Holders United moved into the last 16 of the Carabao Cup after goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Casemiro before Martial's clinical first-time effort 10 minutes after the restart.
After a few weeks of chaos, this was the kind of night United manager Erik ten Hag must have wanted as his side clinched their most significant win of the season.
With Mason Mount back in the starting XI and fellow summer signing Sofyan Amrabat making his first start, Ten Hag was at least able to integrate some key pieces of his United puzzle.
There were also plenty of examples of controlled possession, which Ten Hag has so far struggled to implement.
Evidently, the game plan was to create an overload on the United right with lofted cross-field passes from the left, which both Amrabat and Mount were able to execute.
Morocco international Amrabat caught the eye as an inverted left-back. The on-loan Fiorentina man's early shot was poor, but he was excellent aside from that and demonstrated superb range of passing, plenty of energy and an ability to spot danger when it arose.
Fellow full-back Diogo Dalot created the opener when he burst onto Facundo Pellistri's pass and pulled a low cross back for Garnacho to finish before Mount's superb corner picked out Casemiro six minutes later to double the hosts' lead and effectively ended the contest.
Martial's strike from an acute angle was his first goal of the season and came in his first appearance at Old Trafford since Ten Hag was booed for bringing him on in place of Rasmus Hojlund against Brighton.
Andre Onana was a spectator for most of the night but made two excellent late saves against Palace striker Jean-Phillippe Mateta.
To sum up a disappointing night for the Eagles, who return here in the Premier League on Saturday, goalkeeper Dean Henderson only lasted 19 minutes on his debut. Against his former club, he was forced off with muscular pain after making a routine clearance.
Full focus on Saturday 👊
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) September 27, 2023
More of the best reaction
Matic Maker was impressed with the United performance, he posted this on the Red Cafe forum:
"There was a breath of fresh air blowing around OT last night everyone in his place and doing the job the manager asked, we moved around so quickly and purposely, I was out of breath just watching. I can remember a few times in the game when every one of our players seemed to be moving at the same time, no one just standing still and observing.
"True, the opposition was not up to much, we will see a different Palace on Saturday. It was how we performed that grabbed the attention. Don't know what the pass rate was, but the speed, nature and consistency of much of our passing was quite exhilarating after some of the dross we have seen lately. The youngsters brought that element of 'no fear' we have had previously. I thought the link-up between Casemiro and Amrabat in the second half in midfield gave us a strength and purpose we haven't seen for ages, we looked as if we knew what we were doing, as well as performing well."
European Super Football (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com)
On the same forum, another user added: "That was an excellent performance and enjoyable to watch. Casemiro was superb, Amrabat looked very good and a promising half from Mount. The bonus of another clean sheet too. Palace were woeful though, and I expected them to play a stronger side considering they aren't going down and several PL teams are already knocked out or will be in this round."
Popular Palace fan HLTCO posted this on Twitter.
I feel terrible for every fan who made that trip.
— HLTCO (@HLTCO) September 26, 2023
Phil was in the away end at Old Trafford, he added: "That was a shocking performance. We aren't going to get relegated, so we had a chance to progress in this competition. I hope Roy can inspire the team before we return to Old Trafford on Saturday."
