Man Utd 1-3 Crystal Palace: Wilfried Zaha inspires Crystal Palace to beat his former club Manchester United

Wilfried Zaha scored twice on his return to Manchester United to inspire Crystal Palace to an impressive 3-1 win at Old Trafford.

The loss became the first time United lost their opening Premier League match by at least two goals since 1995/96 when they were beaten 3-1 at Aston Villa.

Zaha returned to United to haunt his former employers as his retaken penalty in the 74th minute doubled Palace’s lead following Andros Townsend’s early opener.

In the game’s major flashpoint, Manchester United were on the receiving end of the VAR call as referee Martin Atkinson awarded Palace a penalty after VAR Jon Moss instructed him to consult his pitch-side monitor.

Watch the match highlights below

Jordan Ayew’s cross deflected off the arm of Victor Lindelof, but after Ayew’s spot-kick was saved by David de Gea, the Spaniard was deemed to have encroached on the taker.

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Donny van de Beek scored on his debut after he came on in the second period and the Netherlands midfielder reduced the deficit with a well-taken effort, but Zaha’s superb finish ensured a second successive victory for Palace at Old Trafford.

Crystal Palace continued their perfect start to the season with two wins from two while United suffered their first league defeat in 15 Premier League games stretching back to January.

Stats and facts from the match (Backed by Opta)

• Crystal Palace have won consecutive league games away against Man Utd for the first time; they’re just the second London club to win consecutively in the Premier League at Old Trafford after Tottenham in 2012-13/2013-14.
• Manchester United have lost their opening home game to a Premier League campaign for just the third time, also losing vs Everton in 1992-93 and Swansea in 2014-15.
• Crystal Palace scored more than twice for the first time in 40 Premier League games, since beating Bournemouth 5-3 on the final day of the 2018-19 campaign.
• Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha has scored in consecutive Premier League games for the first time since November 2019 – his two strikes were his first goal involvements in his 10th Premier League appearance against former club Manchester United.
• Man Utd keeper David de Gea has failed to save any of the last 18 penalties he’s faced in the Premier League, last keeping one out from Everton’s Leighton Baines in October 2014.