United keep that winning feeling as Sesko scores again

ON FORM: Benjamin Sesko celebrates another United goal. Pic: Martin Rickett/PA

Premier League: Manchester United 2 Crystal Palace 1 

If Michael Carrick is a gambling man, he would have noticed that the bookmakers have installed Oliver Glasner as his closest challenger in the market to be manager of Manchester United next season.

A storming second-half performance that brought goals for Bruno Fernandes and Benjamin Sesko and lifted United into the top three should see Carrick’s odds shorten.

Champions League qualification is there for the taking for a team that has taken 19 points from a possible 21 in the seven games since the Old Trafford hierarchy invited their former midfielder to become head coach until the summer.

Glasner, the Austrian who led Crystal Palace to the first trophy in their 120-year history last year when they lifted the FA Cup, is leaving Selhurst Park in May and has his admirers in Manchester.

Until defender Maxence Lacroix was sent off 11 minutes into the second half, when Palace were leading thanks to the fourth-minute goal the Frenchman himself had headed home, Glasner would have fancied his chances of doing a number on Carrick and lifting his own hopes of getting a call from an 0161 number.

But Fernandes converted the penalty that Lacroix conceded when hauling down Matheus Cunha to earn his red card.

Then the United captain continued the form that must surely make him a contender for the Footballer of the Year award by digging out the delicious cross from which Sesko emphatically headed home his fourth goal in five games.

If there really is a United DNA, then Carrick is plugged into it. His team were second best in the opening period but managed to find a solution and the Stretford End made their feelings clear at the final whistle about who they feel is the right man for the job.

“It was nice to hear the fans,” said Carrick. “This place means a lot to me, so to have that positivity feels good. The players must take a lot of credit for what they do on the pitch but having that connection is huge.

“The biggest thing we take from the game is that for the first time we were in a situation when we were behind at half-time,” said Carrick. “I said to the players that it was about how we react and show that personality and belief.

“Football is tough at times. You are never always going to have it your way. So the way we turned the game in our favour in the second half is something we can really take from this.

“We made a few tweaks to the team at half-time but I’m not going to take the credit for it. I told them this situation was something I’ve been waiting for so I could see what we were going to do about it. Being so positive was a big thing for us.”

Sesko was handed his first Premier League start for almost two months after a fistful of impressive cameo performances as a substitute.

But with Adam Wharton imperious in central midfield, the visitors established an early superiority that secured them a lead.

Brennan Johnson’s far-post corner allowed Lacroix to strong-arm Leny Yoro out of the way before looping a clever header across United keeper Senne Lammens and in off the far post.

Palace had other opportunities before United finally began to rouse themselves as half-time approached.

Then, seven minutes after the interval, the game turned decisively towards the home team. Cunha lost Lacroix with a deft change of direction only to be dragged back by the scruff of the neck by the Palace defender.

Referee Chris Cavanagh pointed to the spot. Fernandes, Cunha, and Harry Maguire also wanted to see a red card. When VAR official Tony Harrington advised that contact had started outside the box, Cavanagh took another look. He opted to both uphold his original decision and send off Lacroix after a four-minute delay that suggested he may have at least had some doubts.

Fernandes kept his cool to send Dean Henderson the wrong way from the spot. It was his seventh goal of the season.

“The red card changed the game completely and I think it’s a very hard decision,” said Glasner. “The foul started outside the box and usually the foul is to be given where it starts. Cunha was very smart by getting inside the box before falling down.

“They checked if it was offside, a foul, a penalty, a red card. I suppose it takes time to make three or four decisions but it still feels it was the wrong decision. It feels like the Old Trafford bounce.”

With Palace still coming to terms with being a man down, Fernandes served up the 65th-minute cross that invited Sesko to dash ahead of Jaydee Canvot to spear a textbook downward header past Henderson’s left hand and win the game.

MAN UTD (4-2-3-1): Lammens 7; Dalot 6, Yoro 5, Maguire 8 (Heaven 85), Shaw 5 (Mazraoui 24, 6); Casemiro 6, Mainoo 7; Mbeumo 7 (Zirkzee 86), Fernandes 8, Cunha 7; Sesko 7 (Diallo 75, 5).

CRYSTAL PALACE (3-4-3): Henderson 7; Richards 7, Lacroix 4, Canvot 6; Munoz 6, Wharton 7 (Hughes 68, 5), Kamada 6 (Pino 85), Mitchell 6; Sarr 7, Strand Larsen 6 (Guessand 58, 5), Johnson 6 (Riad 58, 5).

Referee: Chris Kavanagh.