ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Manchester United 1 Crystal Palace 2
LONDON • It was the worst time for Marcus Rashford to have his perfect penalty record broken.
With Manchester United trailing 1-0 in the Premier League clash against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford yesterday, the striker knew he had to step up.
He hit the post, however, and despite an 89th-minute equaliser by winger Daniel James, Palace snatched all three points with Patrick van Aanholt's stoppage-time goal to make it 2-1.
Rashford's miss came after Paul Pogba also missed from the spot in last Monday's 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told the BBC: "Two games, two missed penalties. It's part and parcel of it. Sometimes it happens. I have missed a few myself. If we score them it's a different story."
He added: "We should have dealt with the last five minutes better. We defended poorly at times today and it cost us. Sometimes you do not find that end product and that happened today.
"We did not test their 'keeper enough. It cost us dearly today."
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EPL RESULTS/FIXTURES
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FRIDAY
Aston Villa 2 Everton 0
YESTERDAY
Norwich 2 Chelsea 3
Brighton 0 Southampton 2
Man United 1 Crystal Palace 2
Sheffield United 1 Leicester 2
Watford 1 West Ham 3
Liverpool v Arsenal Late kick-off
TODAY
Bournemouth v Man City Ch102/Ch227, 9pm
Tottenham v Newcastle Ch102/Ch227, 11.30pm
Wolves v Burnley Ch103/Ch228, 11.30pmAll on Singtel TV and StarHub
Jordan Ayew scored against the run of play in the 32nd minute as Palace punished United's lack of creativity in midfield and bite up front. The visitors were rewarded for their first foray into the United half, as Jeffrey Schlupp headed on goalkeeper Vicente Guaita's punt upfield and Ayew steered a low shot past David de Gea after taking the ball in his stride.
With time running out for United, Wales winger James equalised when he curled a shot into the top corner but the home side's joy was short-lived as Palace grabbed the winner minutes later.
Pogba compounded another poor performance when he gave the ball away in the danger zone and van Aanholt pounced to beat de Gea with a low shot from 12m.
Left-back van Aanholt said: "I was gutted when that United goal went in. We had worked so hard to get the clean sheet but I am delighted that we could counter and get them back. We knew they were going to have the ball, we knew they were going to attack.
"We have been working on that all week. At half time we knew we were not going to lose that game. We wanted the three points.
Defender Gary Cahill added: "We worked very hard, we had a bit of luck with the penalty miss but I think we deserve it."
REUTERS
