Last-gasp Eagles have just enough to ruffle feathers of relentless Man United

Crystal Palace (0) 1 Olise 90

Manchester United (1) 1 Fernandes 43

A sensational last-minute free-kick from Michael Olise gave Palace an unexpected point that denied Man United a 10th straight win.

It’s probably fair to say a game against a United team arriving on the back of such a run is not what Patrick Vieira would have chosen with his side struggling.

But they defied the sooth-sayers to claim a draw after Bruno Fernandes had given the visitors a first-half lead.

It punished a rather complacent United who thought they had done enough but a foul by Luke Shaw and Fred on Jeffrey Schlupp gave Olise his chance and the winger curled a beauty into the net via the underside of the crossbar.

The Eagles needed this. They were on a run of four defeats in five – without scoring in each of those defeats - and a few alarm bells have started to ring post-World Cup.

They showed plenty of grit but once again found it hard to make headway up front. United always carried the greater threat and took the lead through Fernandes just before the break.

The Portuguese midfielder was found in acres of space by Cristian Eriksen after the Dane had ghosted through onto a pass from Marcus Rashford in the inside left channel. He steadied himself and picked the far corner beyond Vicente Guaita’s left hand.

That was a pity for Palace, as it came not long after Odsonne Edouard had produced the home side’s best moment with a shot from the edge of the area which David de Gea tipped onto the crossbar.

That chance came after Olise had found the striker on the edge of the box, who held off Raphael Varane to get his shot away.

An away win then felt a bit inevitable. Crystal Palace beat Manchester United 1-0 on the final day last season, but that really was a rarity. It was their first home league win against them since 1991.

Fernandes and Eriksen bossed the middle of the park and Palace frittered away possession too easily. The ball kept coming back at them.

United, who gave a debut to striker Wout Weghorst, did not have the look of a team at its best and they probably had one eye on Sunday’s top of the table encounter with Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

Wilf Zaha was often faced with a thicket of legs and an obstinate opponent in former Eagle Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who did a fine job of subduing the winger. Zaha has now gone six league games without a goal for the first time since April 2021.

But Palace finally built up a bit of pressure in the final quarter and only had a Marc Guehi header at goal to show for it until that amazing finale.

The best hope for a serious turnaround will surely be against teams in and around them in the table, but at least now they have finally avoided defeat against a top-10 team for the first time this season.

The next five matches are all against teams in the top half – starting with Newcastle on Saturday.

Eagles: (4-2-3-1) Guaita – Clyne, Richards, Guehi, Mitchell – Doucoure (Schlupp 71), Hughes (Milivojevic 84) – Olise, Zaha, Edouard (Ayew 71) – Mateta (Eze 56). Subs not used: Johnstone, Ward, Tomkins, Riedewald, Ozoh

United: (4-2-3-1) De Gea – Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw – Eriksen (Fred 83), Casemiro – Antony (Garnacho 70), Fernandes, Rashford – Weghorst (McTominay 70). Subs not used: Heaton, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia, Pellestri, Elanga