A disjointed Manchester United team on Monday night got pummeled at Selhurst Park, thanks to a Michael Olise masterclass that inspired Crystal Palace to a 4-0 thrashing of the Red Devils.
With the Eagles also winning the reverse fixture at Old Trafford, this is the first time Crystal Palace have done the double over Manchester United in the Premier League.
French international Michael Olise was unstoppable on the night, as a weakened Manchester United defence could not find any ideas to keep him calm.
12 minutes in, the Frenchman opened the scoring for Crystal Palace.
Veterans Christian Eriksen and Casemiro could not stop him as he went past them with ease, particularly embarrassing Casemiro en route to finding the bottom corner with an unstoppable drive.
With Manchester United struggling for ideas, with Bruno Fernandez not on the field, Michael Olise could have added a second in quick succession, but Jean-Philippe Mateta stood in the way of his shot and Andre Onana was able to save.
Jean-Philippe Mateta added Crystal Palace’s second goal after collecting a pass from Chris Richards, breezing past Jonny Evans, and arrowing a piledriver past Andre Onana.
Rasmus Hojlund thought he had his goal but it was disallowed as he was adjudged to have fouled Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
Manchester United ended the first half trailing Crystal Palace by 2-0.
The Red Devils have occasionally been regarded as the ‘come back kings’ but on this occasion, they appeared not to have any ideas.
Their task became even more difficult when Tyrick Mitchell put the Eagles 3-0 up 13 minutes into the second half after a wicked cross from Adam Wharton.
This was the Michael Olise show. The Frenchman added a fourth for Crystal Palace with a thunderous strike, after collecting a pass from Daniel Muñoz who dispossessed Casemiro.
It could have got even more embarrassing for Manchester United had Odsonne Édouard’s shot found the net, but he hit the post late on, with Andre Onana rooted.
The Red Devils have now lost 13 times this season, and the 4-0 defeat was their heaviest this season.
The defeat leaves Manchester United 8th in the Premier League table with 54 points, below Chelsea who are 7th also with 54 points, but the Blues are above them having scored more goals than the Red Devils.