- As Crystal Palace fall 1-0 at Old Trafford
Interim Manager, Ralf Rangnick kicked off his reign as Manchester United coach at Old Trafford with a victory and in the process, kept the Red Devils’ first home clean sheet of the season to date.
It was a game of two halves, with United putting visiting Crystal Palace serious pressure in the first half, before Patrick Vieira’s men grew into it after the break, with Jordan Ayew missing a golden chance to put them into the lead.
However, it was Brazilian import Fred that had the final word with a sweet first-time finish that earned the hosts all three points at stake. This second-half firecracker from Fred gave Rangnick a winning start to life as United manager and they also managed to keep a clean sheet.
Things looking up at Old Trafford. Another positive sign for United was their fluency in possession, particularly before the break, when there always seemed to be an option for them.
Ronaldo was exemplary, too and the only thing missing was a goal as he was a constant threat going at the Palace defence and it was something of a statement performance from the Portuguese in terms of resolve to play an active part in the new Rangnick era
Available statistics indicate that Rangnick is the first of six Germans managers in the Premier League to win his first game in the competition. His predecessors, Felix Magath, Jürgen Klopp, Jan Siewert, Daniel Farke, and Thomas Tuchel all previously failed to do so before him.
For Palace, although they head back to London empty-handed, it was more evidence of the progress being made under the very impressive Patrick Vieira. Ayew really should have scored from that second-half corner, and then who knows what may have happened in the encounter after that?
Speaking to BBC Radio 5Live after the match, Rangnick said; “I’m very happy with the way the team performed, the way they played, especially the first half-hour, that was exceptional, I thought. The only thing missing in that period was one or two-nil … We had control of the game … I am very happy with the result and the clean sheet.
“I said in my first press conference, there are things we need to improve on, to get clean sheets, to get control of the game. What they [my players] showed was more than I expected, to be honest.
“Patience was important, but we always tried to be on the front foot … that’s what I liked today … we were always trying to keep them away from goal… We wanted to play with two strikers and with two 10s, to get more control in the centre of midfield.”
On Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance, especially defensively, the German said; “By the way, what Ronaldo did today ‘against the ball’: Chapeau.”
Also talking about Fred’s winner, Rangnick said; “I had to ask one of my assistants if it was Fred with his right foot … it was great what he did together with McTominay at No 6.
In their earlier fixture on September 19, 2021, Palace outmuscled Manchester United 3-1 inside Old Trafford under the tutelage of sacked Manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Spurs Humble Norwich 3-0
Tottenham Hotspur rose to the fifth spot on the Premiership table, just two points behind West Ham United with a game in hand. They continued to improve under new manager Antonio Conte and could raise their game further over the festive period.
Goals from Lucas, Sanchez, and Son secured the victory against their opponents, Norwich City that remained bottom on the table with their unbeaten run coming to an end.
Spurs celebrated rolling to an easy victory over the ineffectual Norwich, looking impenetrable all through the match because the visitors did not make them work too hard. – With The Guardian report
