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Olise stunner denies Manchester United win at Crystal Palace

By Vincent Ashitey
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Michael Olise's sensational stoppage-time free-kick rescued a 1-1 draw for Crystal Palace against Manchester United as Erik ten Hag's side missed the chance to go second in the Premier League.

United appeared to be heading for a sixth consecutive Premier League win thanks to Bruno Fernandes' goal before half-time, but Olise salvaged a point in dramatic style, his curling set-piece crashing in off the underside of the bar in the 91st minute.

David de Gea had kept Palace at bay before that, the United goalkeeper making outstanding saves from Odsonne Edouard and Marc Guehi, but he couldn't do anything about Olise's stunning effort as United spurned the opportunity to close the gap to Arsenal to six points.

For United, the result was compounded by a booking for Casemiro, his fifth of the season, which means the key midfielder will be suspended for Sunday's crucial showdown with Arsenal, live on Sky Sports.

The draw keeps United in third, denting their title hopes and leaving them eight points behind Arsenal, but it comes as a major boost to 12th-placed Palace, who had lost five of their previous six games in all competitions.

How Palace ended Man Utd's winning run

A day on from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of chemical group INEOS, entering the bidding to buy the club, United hoped to show why they are becoming an increasingly-attractive proposition on the pitch as well as off it.

But they had to work for their chances from the start at Selhurst Park, with Palace defending stubbornly against a side seeking a 10th consecutive win in all competitions.

Luke Shaw, back at left-back with Lisandro Martinez returning in central defence, was first to go close, firing wide from an angle, with Antony then looping another effort past the same post.

Wout Weghorst, making his debut up front following his arrival on loan from Burnley, headed a half-chance narrowly over and Marcus Rashford fired wide from a free-kick, but United were indebted to De Gea for keeping it level when he brilliantly tipped Edouard's shot onto the top of the bar.

Up at the other end, their breakthrough arrived less than four minutes after those heroics, Fernandes escaping the attention of Cheick Doucoure after Eriksen had breezed through Palace's defence, then thumping home the Dane's cut-back.

The timing was a blow to Palace, coming so close to half-time, and even more so given United had won all 10 of the previous games under Ten Hag in which they had scored first, but they continued to defend well after the break and improved offensively too.

Source: Sky Sports