Crystal Palace stunned Manchester United as Patrick van Aanholt scored an injury-time winner to record their first victory at Old Trafford since 1989.
Full-back Van Aanholt netted in the 93rd minute, smashing in as the ball broke loose following Wilfried Zaha’s burst forward.
Daniel James thought he had rescued a point for United when he curled in a delightful equaliser in the 89th minute following neat build-up from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
But Rashford will rue striking the post from the penalty spot earlier in the second period – the second spot-kick the Red Devils have missed this week after Paul Pogba had one saved in the 1-1 draw at Wolves on Monday.
Jordan Ayew had scored the opener in the first half against the run of play, latching on to Jeffrey Schlupp’s flick-on and coolly converting Palace’s first goal of the campaign, before the late drama.
Pogba received racist abuse on social media after his miss from the spot at Molineux.
United released a statement condemning the abuse, while fans brought an anti-racism flag into the stadium and sang “there’s only one Paul Pogba” to show they were behind the France midfielder.
However, a nasty minority of the tweets that followed Rashford’s miss showed the issue remains.
The England striker’s failure from the spot formed part of a bad day for United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The club paid a collective £130m this summer for defenders Harry Maguire and Wan-Bissaka – but neither covered round the back of centre-back Victor Lindelof in the lead-up to Palace’s opener, so when the Swede lost out to Schlupp as they challenged for goalkeeper Vicente Guaita’s clearance, Ayew was able to race clear of the United defence and finish.
James was Solskjaer’s third summer signing. The Welshman is having a major impact and his curling shot to equalise was a brilliant effort.
However, for the second game running, the winger was booked for diving – even if the decision from referee Paul Tierney looked harsh.
It was a sweet day for Crystal Palace’s veteran defender Gary Cahill.
Playing at Old Trafford in the Premier League for his fourth different club, Cahill was celebrating his first win.
He made only two league appearances for Chelsea last season, so the 33-year-old could be forgiven an element of rustiness, although it was pure pace from Martial that caused the centre-back to drag the forward down as the hosts searched for a quick equaliser.
Cahill could easily have been sent off. Instead, he remained on the pitch and used his experience to steer Palace to an unexpected victory.
Eagles manager Roy Hodgson is too experienced to get carried away by one game – but given his side were yet to score this season and had lost five of their past six visits to Old Trafford, the the former England boss surely cannot have travelled with much confidence.
But they now sit level with United on points, and with Cahill easing himself in after his summer move from Chelsea, Hodgson could have one of the season’s best free transfers at their disposal.
