Palace Surprises Man United at Old Trafford

This hasn't happened since 1989.

Yes, Manchester United missed another penalty, but full marks to Crystal Palace for holding steady, keeping shape, and emerging from Old Trafford for an unlikely 1-2 win

Right in the middle of that effort was Chelsea refugee Gary Cahill, now 33 and proving he actually isn't in a witness protection program.

Dude virtually disappeared after being given a free transfer from Stamford Bridge, but he's found a home in South London, serving to steel the Eagle resistance.

 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side began the match as they usually do at home, mainly retainingball possession. However, real chances were scarce as Palace closed down the prime angles. 

Then, 32 minutes in and following a long ball, Jeffrey Schlupp flickedon to Jordan Ayew, who was in perfect condition to calmly beat David de Gea:

 

United then picked up where it left off, controlling possession. However, the Eagles maintained control of the scoreboard.

Same thing after the break. The Red Devils kept piling up the offensive stats, and it finally seemed the game would change in the 69th minute when Scott McTominay was fouled inside the area. 

Recall that Paul Pogba tried-&-died from the spot last week. At least that took a spectacular save to thwart. This time, Marcus Rashford stepped up. Same result, though. Dude hit the post.

 

Then, on 89 minutes, United's luck seemed to have changed.

Anthony Martial fed Daniel James, who delivered a beautiful goal from just around the penalty spot:

 

Three minutes later, though, Pogba had his pocket picked by Wilfried Zaha, who drove forward and slipped it to Patrick van Aanholt.

The Dutchman capped it and the game with a clever finish:

 

This matched seemed to be a good opportunity for the Red Devils to recover from their slip at Wolverhampton, but Palace had other ideas.

If only they could find the sorta consistency that's eluded them for so long. As in 30 years.