Gary Lineker feels there was a significant problem for Rúben Amorim against Crystal Palace, one that’s likely to be fixed when Manchester United play West Ham.
Manchester United’s improving form was summed up by their hard-fought 2–1 victory over Crystal Palace.
A poor first-half display saw Rúben Amorim’s Reds head into the interval a goal down, but moments of quality from Joshua Zirkzee, Mason Mount, and Bruno Fernandes turned the contest on its head after the restart.
The win was significant, ending a long wait for a league victory in London against a side other than Fulham, with their previous success coming back in January 2022. United now return to the familiarity of Old Trafford, where West Ham arrive on Thursday evening.
While United continue to push up the table in pursuit of the Champions League places, West Ham remain firmly in a battle at the other end. The visitors are level on points with 18th-placed Leeds United and remain outside the relegation zone only due to a superior goal difference.
Amorim will be eager to use the momentum from the Palace victory to put the disappointment of their Everton defeat firmly behind them and kick-start a winning run as the festive period gets underway.
United looked light up front vs Palace, says Lineker
Former England and Barcelona forward Gary Lineker was at the Selhurst Park tie for his 65th birthday, and as always, had his say on The Rest Is Football podcast. Speaking to his co-hosts, Lineker admitted he felt United looked light up front.
“United won the game, which they’ll be delighted about,” he started. “But I looked at them, and I still looked, and I thought, ‘They’re really short.’
“I mean, I know [Matheus] Cunha was out and [Benjamin] Sesko’s injured at the moment as well. So, they were a bit short at the top. But I just, I mean, I did this day before the game, I looked at the two teams, and it’s great when you’re actually at a game.”
However, with Cunha set to return to the squad ahead of the fixture against West Ham this week, Amorim’s headache of having to pick one of him or goalscorer Mount provides a much-needed depth boost for the Old Trafford side.
Speaking further about his attendance at the game, Liniker continued: “It’s nice to be able to go on to watch matches and stuff more nowadays,” he continued. “So, I looked at the two teams, and I said to myself, This would be a question you’d have always asked the other way round.
“I asked myself the question, ‘How many Man United players will get into Crystal Palace’s team?’. And it’s probably the wrong time to say this because United won the game. But I only had about two, maybe three. Yeah.”
Palace dominated, but United got the job done
United’s second-half display was one of their best this season, but it was paired with a very, very poor and lethargic first 45 minutes.
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“Palace was so dominant in the first half,” Lineker noted. “I mean, United weren’t very good at all. They missed two or three really, really good chances.
“They managed to get a penalty and we didn’t really know what was going on in the ground. It was a double touch, obviously, at some point, but he managed to score on his second effort.”
Fortunately for the Reds, invention from Bruno Fernandes paired with fantastic strikes from Zirkzee and Mount got the job done, but Amorim will want to see a much-improved overall performance amid Cunha’s return against the Hammers.
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