Man Utd 2-1 Crystal Palace: Sesko-inspired Red Devils come from behind to continue revival under Carrick

Benjamin Sesko continued his stellar run of form with the winning goal as Manchester United came from behind to beat ten-man Crystal Palace 2-1 at Old Trafford.

United endured a nightmare start to the contest as Maxence Lacroix outfoxed a lackadaisical Leny Yoro to head home Brennan Johnson’s corner in only the fourth minute.

The visitors threatened to double their advantage as United failed to wake up, seemingly still shellshocked, after their early setback, with Senne Lammens forced to keep out a driven 11th-minute effort from the lively Ismaila Sarr.

But United finally came to life after Dean Henderson denied a brilliant Bruno Fernandes free-kick towards the end of the first-half – and the Portuguese was at the heart of the hosts’ spirited second-half fightback.

Fernandes kept his cool to equalise from the spot after Lacroix had brought down Matheus Cunha on the edge of the box, a foul that saw the Frenchman shown a straight red card and Palace reduced to ten men for the final half an hour.

The United skipper then turned provider in the 65th minute, sending over an arching cross from the right touchline for Sesko, who headed beyond Henderson to give the home team the lead with his seventh goal in eight games.

Henderson was alert to keep out a speculative long-range effort from Kobbie Mainoo in the closing stages and the Red Devils held firm under some pressure at the other end of the pitch to come away from the Theatre of Dreams with all three points.

The comeback victory – a sixth win in seven games since Michael Carrick’s appointment – ensured United leapfrogged Aston Villa to go third in the table with ten matches remaining of the campaign.

Carrick has hardly put a foot wrong since taking over the reins from Ruben Amorim and the decision to start Sesko from the off – after the forward’s winner off the bench at Everton – was just the latest shrewd move from an interim manager with one eye on the permanent job.

Palace, meanwhile, remain stranded down in 14th place with only two wins to their name in the English top flight since the turn of the year.

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