The Observer - 25.08.2019

The Observer

25.08.19 9

Palace joy but online abuse

of Rashford riles Solskjær

1
MAN UTD
James 89

2

CRYSTAL PALACE

Ayew 32, Van Aanholt 90

Jamie Jackson
Old Trafford

De Gea; Wan Bissaka■,

Lindelöf, Maguire, Shaw

(Young 34); Pogba,

McTominay (Mata 85);

James■, Lingard

(Greenwood 56), Rashford;

Martial

Subs not used Pereira,

Romero, Matic, Tuanzebe

Guaita■; Ward, Cahill■,

Kelly, Van Aanholt;

McArthur, Milivojevic■,

Kouyaté (McCarthy 83);

Zaha■, Ayew (Benteke 75),

Schlupp (Townsend 80)

Subs not used Dann,

Meyer, Hennessey,

Wickham

Manchester United Crystal Palace

Referee Paul Tierney Attendance 73,454

4-2-3-1 4-3-3

Ole Gunnar Solskjær said he was
“lost for words” regarding the
racial abuse directed at Marcus
Rashford on Twitter after the
Manchester United forward missed
a 70th- minute penalty.
This was the second spot-kick
United had spurned in fi ve days after
Paul Pogba had one saved at Wolves
on Monday, for which he was also
targeted in a similar manner on the
social media platform.
Rashford failed to convert with
the score 1-0 to the visitors. Though
United did equalise, a late Patrick van
Aanholt strike grabbed Crystal Palace
a first league win at Old Trafford
since 1989.
Solskjær said of the abuse his No 10
received: “It’s the same as we spoke
about before the weekend. It’s
unheard of, it needs to stop and I’m
just lost for the words. If it keeps
going, keep having all these cam-
paigns, ‘no to racism’ and they keep
hiding behind fake IDs ... and it’s crazy
we talk about this in 2019.”
United dominated throughout but,
as at Molineux, lacked a killer touch in
front of goal. At half-time they trailed
to a Jordan Ayew goal yet, when Daniel
James curled home in the 89th min-
ute, Solskjær’s men seemed to have
earned a draw.
But Pogba then ceded possession
and Palace drove up fi eld, setting up
Van Aanholt to beat David de Gea
from close range in added time.
Here the price was paid for United’s
laxity, though they might have had at
least one more penalty when Anthony
Martial appeared to be brought down
by Martin Kelly in the second half and
Rashford, in a separate incident, was
also felled inside the area.
“I think we were unlucky with
Martial’s clear and obvious penalty.
It’s a nailed-on one and, when the
ref sees the game, he’ll know he’s not
had his best,” Solskjær said of Paul
Tierney. “It’s a nailed-on pen, he
won’t slip if he doesn’t have a 100-
kilo centre-back on his shoulders.
“I think [regarding] VAR – they let
the ref decision be a subjective one
[yet] it’s a clear and obvious penalty
with Anthony and for Marcus.”
The manager also believed Gary
Cahill should have been sent off when
Martial, this time just outside the

penalty area, was fouled by the Palace

debutant as the interval neared.

Instead the defender was given a yel-

low card.

Solskjær said: “I don’t want to go

on about referee decisions [but] clear

through, one on one, stopping a goal-

scoring opportunity, no doubt either .”

As at Wolves James was booked

when beating a player despite con-

tact seeming to have been made.

Again, the Norwegian was unhappy.

“He runs and gets pulled down a little

bit and I’m 100% sure there’s contact

between Daniel and the defender,” the

Norwegian said. “Now he’s got two

yellow cards and he’s been unlucky as

both yellows are undeserved.

“I raise it here because he’s not that

type of player. He keeps running and

there’s contact now and in the Wolves

game. He gets up and he runs and

sometimes he gets kicked and with

that pace [will go down].”

For Roy Hodgson there was only

enjoyment at being the fi rst Palace

manager in the Premier League era

to mastermind victory at United. “I

was unaware of that nugget,” he said.

“We showed a lot of ability in desire,

concentration and performance. We

are very happy with our victory. It

was hard work. The players showed

incredible concentration. I was hop-

ing the ball would break on the

counter. It was a long, hot afternoon.

We always try to go for a winner.”

“I thought it was the right [team

who got the] victory. I think the play-

ers worked so hard for us. They got

the equaliser but then we fought back.

They had a lot of the ball but we knew

that was going to be the case. We

made sure that they found it diffi cult

to fi nd the passes they wanted to fi nd.

It was great to come back.”

Palace’s goals were their fi rst of the

season and they had gone into the

game with only one point from their

two matches. Hodgson added: “If you

judge games on possession o r cor-

ners then people would say we did not

deserve it but we are Crystal Palace

and, looking at our team and our

performance, of course we deserved

to win.”

Manchester

United’s Marcus

Rashford was the

target of racist

abuse on Twitter

after missing a

penalty at Old

Trafford (inset)

JAN KRUGER/GETTY IMAGES

’79

This was the fi rst

time Crystal Palace

had scored fi rst in

a league match at Old Trafford

since November 1979, when David

Swindlehurst put them ahead in a

game that fi nished 1-1.

Long wait over

0

BRIGHTON

2

SOUTHAMPTON

Djenepo 55, Redmond 90

Ed Elliot

Amex Stadium

Ryan; Duffy, Dunk, Burn;

Montoya■, Stephens

(Gross 78), Pröpper, March

(Locadia 68); Maupay

(Murray 74), Andone■,

Trossard

Subs not used Webster,

Mooy, Button, Bernardo

Gunn; Bednarek, Danso,

Vestergaard; Ward-

Prowse■, Romeu,

Højbjerg■, Valery

(Djenepo■ 53); Redmond,

Ings (Armstrong 84);

Adams (Boufal 80)

Subs not used McCarthy,

Cedric, Yoshida, Obafemi

Brighton Southampton

Referee Kevin Friend Attendance 30,019

3-4-3 3-4-2-1

Djenepo’s

big entrance

topples

Brighton

Moussa Djenepo’s stunning

fi rst Premier League goal set

Southampton on course for their

fi rst points of the season as they

won 2-0 at 10-man Brighton.

Djenepo, a substitute and £14m

summer signing from Standard

Liège, had been on the pitch for 78

seconds when he cut in from the left

to bury the ball into the top-right

corner from the edge of the box.

Nathan Redmond tapped home a

cross from Sofi ane Boufal to seal the

points in injury-time. Albion played

with 10 men for an hour after Florin

Andone was sent off for a reckless

tackle on Yan Valery, while Lewis

Dunk had a fi rst-half header ruled

out by VAR.

Prior to Redmond’s strike

Brighton pushed hard for an

equaliser and struck the woodwork

through the substitute Jürgen

Locadia before falling to a fi rst

defeat under Graham Potter.

The y had the better of the limited

early chances. But their task became

more diffi cult after half an hour

when the Romanian forward

Andone raked his studs down the

leg of Valery. The referee, Kevin

Friend, had no hesitation in pulling

out the red card.

Seven minutes before the break

VAR disallowed a Brighton “goal”

for the second successive week.

The captain Dunk powered home a

header but the celebrations were cut

short by a review which ruled that

his fellow defender Dan Burn was in

an offside position as he challenged

the Southampton goalkeeper, Angus

Gunn.

The away side made their

numerical advantage count in fi ne

style 10 minutes after the restart.

The Malian winger Djenepo , newly

on for Valery, collected the ball wide

on the left and advanced to whip his

shot home.

Southampton dug in resolutely

and doubled their advantage with

Redmond’s late second. Boufal

worked some space on the left

before squaring for Redmond to tap

home and secure Southampton’s

victory. PA Media

ON

OTHER

PAGES

Racist

trolls

target Rashford

on Twitter

Main section,

page 10

71% Possession 29%

3 Shots on Target 3

21 Total Attempts 5