Manchester United finally ended their November misery on the very last day of the month, coming from behind to claim a priceless 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, a result that lifts them into the Premier League’s top six and ends Palace’s impressive 12-match unbeaten home run.
Palace, who had gone behind fewer times than any other PL side this season, were almost stunned inside just 60 seconds when Diogo Dalot’s long throw caused chaos and Dean Henderson had to make a rapid stop to deny Casemiro at close range. The Brazilian then headed narrowly wide, but United’s early spark faded, and the low winter sun glaring into their defence didn’t help their composure.
Palace grew stronger as the half wore on. Jean-Philippe Mateta twice pounced on errors from Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro but failed to hit the target. Senne Lammens kept United afloat with routine stops from Daichi Kamada and Adam Wharton, but the pressure kept building.
Yoro first produced a heroic block to deny Yeremy Pino, then turned villain minutes later by tripping Mateta in the box. The striker converted the penalty at the second attempt after being forced to retake it due to a double touch. Mateta’s seventh successful spot-kick of the season moved him to 17 Premier League goals in 2025, trailing only Erling Haaland.
United had failed to score in their last four league meetings against Palace, but they came out for the second half transformed. Within 10 minutes, Joshua Zirkzee ended a 24-game goal drought with a brilliant near-post volley from a tight angle after a clever Bruno Fernandes pass.
