Manchester United 2-1 Crystal Palace: Casemiro sees red as United hold onto win

Manchester United held onto a 2-1 lead against Crystal Palace after Casemiro was sent off midway through the second half at Old Trafford.

United’s important Brazilian will miss the next three Premier League games after he was seen tussling in a brawl that took place after Antony was fouled.

Goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford were enough to secure Erik ten Hag’s men an important three points.

The game

After weeks of not being able to buy a penalty, United were awarded one in the fourth minute of this encounter after Marcus Rashford’s cross was blocked by the hand of Will Hughes.

It was not Rashford who stepped up to take the spot-kick, however, with Bruno Fernandes taking hold of the ball. Despite missing the last two that he’s taken, United’s no.8 slotted the ball into the bottom left cooley after his trademark hop, skip and jump.

United were in control and didn’t want a repeat of the 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park last month. The next chance came Fred’s way after the Brazilian found himself in the box on the end of a low cross from Wout Weghorst. His snapshot hit the side-netting of Palace’s goal.

The trend continued for the remainder of the half, where United had the lion’s share of possession thanks to some excellent counter-pressing from the hosts.

However, Palace defended well and The Reds went into the break with a slender 1-0 lead.

Rashford was the one to extend that lead midway through the second half. He was on the end of an excellent move to get the second for United.

It looked to be a comfortable situation for United, that was until Casemiro was given a red card on the turn of the 70th minute. Following some classic ‘handbags’ the midfielder was seen with his hands round the neck of one Palace player and VAR picked up on it.

Several minutes later Palace found a goal through Jeffrey Schlupp and the game came into life with the pressure coming onto Ten Hag’s men.

However, despite the awful officiating on display, United held onto victory with Lisandro Martinez leading the way in the defensive contribution for the hosts.