Man United vs Crystal Palace LIVE: Result and final score after Martial, Rashford and Sancho goals
Follow all the latest from the match between Premier League sides United and Palace in Australia
Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 3-1 today in Melbourne as the two Premier League clubs continued their pre-season preparations.
United have enjoyed their trip to Australia so far, with heavy wins over Liverpool and Melbourne Victory, as Erik ten Hag gets to grips with his new squad and despite the continued absence of Cristiano Ronaldo. And that form continued after goals by Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho took the game away from Palace and gave Ten Hag’s new-look front-line a major confidence boost.
Palace have Covid and injury troubles but still fielded plenty of talent with Jean-Philippe Mateta leading the line alongside Jordan Ayew. The 18-year-old winger Malcolm Ebiowei got a start, as did 20-year-old Killian Phillips and 19-year-old Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, but they could not stop the Eagles from going down at the MCG, despite the consolation goal by Joel Ward.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace
There was a noticeably warm reaction aimed Maguire’s way after he fizzed a shot just wide before the break and the second half was just three minutes old when United scored a fine team goal.
Martial picked the ball out of the sky and laid off to Sancho, who played the Frenchman through with a defence-splitting pass. Martial beat Matthews to the ball and touched wide to substitute Donny van de Beek, whose cross was turned home by Rashford on the edge of the box.
Bruno Fernandes lashed over and fumed at Jordan Ayew after being on the receiving end of a poor challenge, before United scored another fine team goal.
The move started with De Gea and ended with Martial flicking on a Rashford pass for Sancho to race through and slot home in the 59th minute.
The offside flag denied Jean-Philippe Mateta a goal for Palace, but Ward’s header would soon beat De Gea from the corner that had come from the United goalkeeper denying Ademola Ola-Adebomi.
Substitute United defender Fish was sent off for bringing down Victor Akinwale in the closing stages.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace
There were 76,499 in attendance at the MCG, where Maguire’s every touch was jeered during the opening stages.
The United skipper showed impressive fortitude by responding with solid, composed defending that led to the abuse tapering off.
Those pantomime boos took attention away from some bright United play.
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Jack Butland injured his hand when impressively denying Martial and substitute Palace goalkeeper Remi Matthews was soon picking the ball out of his net.
Tyrell Malacia looked bright on his first United start and played over to Diogo Dalot, who hooked a left-footed cross in for Martial to control and strike home from close range in the 17th minute.
Malcolm Ebiowei - a player United looked at in the summer - forced De Gea into a good save but Ten Hag’s side continued to be in the ascendancy.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire was mercilessly booed by the Melbourne crowd during the opening stages of Tuesday’s promising friendly win against absentee-hit Crystal Palace.
Just a week after manager Erik ten Hag confirmed the defender would retain the armband, the 29-year-old found himself coming under fire from sections of the crowd in Australia.
Maguire had avoided a negative reaction in Bangkok and United’s first friendly at the MCG, but the centre-back was jeered during the start of Tuesday’s 3-1 victory against Patrick Vieira’s Palace.
The England international appeared to win over supporters with an impressive showing and the boos subsided during a first half that saw Anthony Martial score in a third successive friendly.
The Frenchman was involved in an excellent team goal finished off by Marcus Rashford early in the second half and flicked through for Jadon Sancho to finish another well-worked move.
David De Gea will be disappointed not to have kept out Joel Ward’s header and Will Fish was sent off but it was another largely positive night for new-look United.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace
Once again, this was not a particularly strong opponent for Erik ten Hag’s side to face. Liverpool had a heavily rotated side in the opening game while Melbourne Victory are clearly not of Premier League level and that showed in game two of the tour.
Palace were also heavily rotated here owing to nine players missing through injury or not being vaccinated and therefore unable to travel, so it was no surprise that United racked up another comfortable win. But the manner of it, with some slick goals and neat interchange between the front players, will build much-needed confidence. Goals for Sancho, Martial and Rashford will be a big boost at a time when Cristiano Ronaldo appears to be seeking a route out of the club.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace
Full-time: Manchester United continue their perfect record in preseason with a third successive victory in Australia.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace
90 min: Hannibal sparks a counter-attack but it comes to a slow as Elanga runs down a dead end.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace
87 min: This game is winding down a little after all those changes and that red card. Laird replaces Malacia.
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace
A night to forget for the 19-year-old centre-half:
RED CARD! Will Fish (Manchester United) 🔴
Oh dear, the teenage defender has been shown a red card for deliberately denying a goalscoring opportunity.
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