Manchester United claimed their first victory in November against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. A hard-fought three points with a huge comeback, but one man really shone when his side needed him most.
Manchester United played relatively poorly at the beginning of the contest, and they went behind just after the half-hour mark from a Crystal Palace penalty conceded by a slip-up from Leny Yoro. After a slow start to the game, things did not improve for some time.
In the 54th minute, however, Bruno Fernandes whipped a cross into Joshua Zirkzee, who controlled the ball brilliantly, before lasering a shot straight into the far post past Dean Henderson.
After the equaliser, United started to take control of the game, and only nine minutes after the first, Mason Mount rifled in a second from another set piece to take the lead, yet again assisted by Fernandes.
Rúben Amorim’s side saw the rest of the game out comfortably and professionally, bouncing back mentally from the nightmare against Everton at Old Trafford the week prior.
Mason Mount’s masterclass
Despite Fernandes playing a part in both decisive goals, Mason Mount is well worth a special mention, with an excellent performance filling in for the injured Matheus Cunha, putting himself on more goals this season than the Brazilian he replaced.
Ally McCoist was very impressed with Mount’s goal on commentary for TNT, “Lovely strike. It’s really clever play from the two of them [Fernandes and Mount] just to create a better angle for the strike, and it goes into that near post.”
“He keeps it down well and goes through the defenders; the wall doesn’t do its job at all, very clever from the two United players.”
In an interview at full-time with TNT, the Englishman was asked how he was feeling now that he is finally back to full fitness.
“I’m feeling good. The win was obviously massive today, but also for me to play the full game. I can’t remember, I haven’t done that in a while, I’ve been feeling really good recently, no problems, so, yeah, I’m enjoying my football, and when you have days like this in front of fans like this, it makes it worth it.”
Why Mount is a role model for the rest of the squad
An issue that is always prevalent with every club in the league is depth. Players get injured or become unavailable for other reasons, so having a squad of players ready to earn their place in the team is crucial for success over the course of the season.
We saw this today with Cunha and Benjamin Šeško unavailable again, leaving a huge opportunity for Zirkzee and Mount to impress both the fans and the manager, and at Selhurst Park, they did just that.
Read More: Bruno Fernandes explains “very important” unnoticed boost vs Crystal Palace, Diogo Dalot agrees
Furthermore, with the FA Cup starting soon and a tight schedule of two games a week just around the corner, Amorim will have to rotate his squad, making players like Mason Mount, who are on the cusp of the starting eleven, even more crucial than before.
The Englishman is creating a good headache for Rúben Amorim, with Cunha only managing one goal this season despite some good performances. Mount is making a strong case to the boss that he himself should be the first choice.
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