Fred gives Rangnick winning start at Man United
Brazilian
midfielder Fred curled in a 77th-minute winner as Ralf Rangnick made a winning
start as Manchester United's interim manager with a 1-0 Premier League win over
Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Sunday.
United
had struggled to create clear chances against Patrick Vieira's well-drilled
side but the oft-criticised Fred beat Vincente Guaita with a wonderful strike
from the edge of the box after being set up by substitute Mason Greenwood.
Palace
should have gone ahead minutes earlier but Jordan Ayew missed from point-blank
range at the back post after James Tomkins had headed down a corner.
United
moved up to sixth place in the table on 24 points, three behind fourth-placed
West Ham United. Palace slipped to 12th on 16 points.
German
Rangnick was leading United for the first time after taking over from caretaker
manager Michael Carrick on Friday and made a low-key entrance to his new home
ground, with no announcement of his presence.
Former
RB Leipzig coach Rangnick has promised to turn United into "pressing
monsters" in the manner of Juergen Klopp's Liverpool but says that
approach will take time to instil in the players.
There
were clear signs, though, of that shift in emphasis in the opening 25 minutes
as United's forward players closed down the Palace defenders and limited their
ability to play out from the back.
Rangnick
opted for a formation with Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo in attack,
with Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes operating behind them.
Portuguese
midfielder Fernandes had a chance to open the scoring after an excellent header
back into his path from compatriot Ronaldo but his mis-hit shot was saved by
Guaita.
Diogo
Dalot, again preferred to Aaron Wan-Bissaka at right back, worked an opening
just before the break, but fired his left-foot shot high and wide.
United
struggled to build on the promising start, however, losing their way after the
break with sloppy passing and a drop off in their movement and pressure.
But
Rangnick will be pleased his team limited Palace's effectiveness on the break
with dangerous winger Wilfried Zaha making little impact.
United
left back Alex Telles clipped the bar with a dipping free kick from a tight
angle before Ayew wasted his golden chance to beat David De Gea.
Then
came Fred's moment of inspiration and the defensive midfielder, whose limitations
have drawn plenty of criticism during United's poor start to the season, was
mobbed by his team mates in celebration.
"Fred
has these moments, one shot per year. Everyone is happy for him because he's
such a nice guy. He works a lot and people don't talk about him. He deserves
the praise," said Fernandes.
Vieira
felt his team had deserved more.
"When
we had that chance with Jordan, we didn't take it. Against the big teams you
get punished. In these games you have to score those," he said.
"With
their new manager we didn't know how they would play. But we prepared with our
shape. When you look at their chances, I think a draw would have been a fair
result."
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