Crystal Palace 2-3 Manchester United
Football games like this are what makes the Premier League so unpredictable.
Sports betting fans know teams going to Selhurst Park can face a tricky test, but the betting odds always favoured Manchester United here especially given Palace’s injury list.
Yet, here was a team which had already defeated champions Chelsea and held champions-to-be Manchester City on home turf, so Jose Mourinho’s side could not take anything for granted.
Palace also knew victory would take them out of the drop zone, a position they found themselves in due to weekend results.
What followed was the Premier League at its best!
They started like a team well aware it needed a result and were rewarded, albeit with a bit of luck, inside 11 minutes when Andros Townsend’s strike took a deflection of Victor Lindelof and flew into the net after good work by Christian Benteke.
It was a slice of luck that their early effort merited, and their attitude remained exemplary during an opening 45 minutes which ended with a deserved home advantage.
The entertainment hadn’t really got started, however.
Three minutes after the break and Palace were in dreamland and looked to be heading from 18th to 13th in the table.
Patrick van Aanholt’s composed finish from Jeffrey Schlupp’s quickly taken free-kick sent reverberations around two-thirds of the ground.
United had to hit back quickly and did inside six minutes, with Chris Smalling’s fine header capitalising on some slack home marking.
That was the trigger for concerted United pressure, although Palace looked dangerous on the counter-attack.
Benteke nearly scored, then cleared one off his own goal line before Romelu Lukaku produced a cool finish after an Alexis Sanchez effort was deflected.
It was another goal for the United number nine, who has silenced some of his detractors in recent weeks, and the Eagles were now back in the drop zone.
Still, the drama continued.
Straight from the restart and Palace would have been back in front only for David de Gea to produce a quite brilliant save to deny Benteke.
It may not have gone in but Benteke showed in this contest why he can be a key player in the club’s survival bid over the final two months of the campaign.
Given their injury woes, a draw would have been a superb result for Palace, but United—just like in the days of Sir Alex Ferguson—weren’t quite done.
Step forward Nemanja Matic whose strike from the edge of the box a minute into stoppage time broke Palace hearts and ensured his first goal for United was extra special.
That’s what £40 million of investment can get you in crucial moments, and it was hard for Palace.
So it’s majestic Matic with a stunning injury-time winner as United moved back into the second spot and Hodgson heartbreak as Roy’s Palace remain in the drop zone.
However, with players to return and more performances like this, they deserve better.
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