That’s all from me. Thanks for reading, and for your emails and tweets.
Sofyan Amrabat speaks:
It was a perfect night. Since I was a child I worked for this. It’s amazing to play here.
I told the manager, I play where the team needs me. Today was left back but I played in midfield also. Of course I am not a left back. But I tried to give the team structure.
It’s a huge club. We need to win. The pressure is high. We push every day very hard.
Jamie Jackson's match report
Well that went about as well as Ten Hag could have hoped. A clean sheet, three goals, and he was able to experiment with his formation and give some minutes to returning and emerging players.
Palace were woeful. It will be interesting to see if Saturday’s game goes the same way.
Full-time: Manchester United 3-0 Crystal Palace
The Carabao Cup defending champions are through to the fourth round.
90+2 min: Pellisti turns neatly on the right wing and shows Mitchell a clean set of heels. Maguire comes onto the ball 50 yards from goal. United fans beckon for him to shoot. It’s party time at Old Trafford. How often can you say that?
90 min: Three minutes added on. Still reeling about that Exeter result. This is worth a read after full-time:
89 min: Johnstone makes two strong saves, as United twice try their luck from distance. Lindelof volleys one from the edge of the box following a corner, and Garnacho also thumps one from an angle. Johnstone turns it behind.
87 min: Here are the FT results in the rest of tonight’s Carabao Cup action. Luton out to League Two Exeter, and Ipswich beat Wolves!
Bradford City 0-2 Middlesbrough
Exeter 1-0 Luton
Ipswich 3-2 Wolves
Mansfield 2-2 Peterborough (penalty shootout)
Port Vale 2-1 Sutton
Salford City 0-4 Burnley
85 min: Good save from Onana. Mateta finds some space in the box, sends Lindelof to the shops and unloads a strong left foot shot. Onana parries, the ball comes out to Ozoh, but the teenager screws his shot wide. What a moment that could have been!
82 min: Signs of life for Palace, who will hope for a reaction on Saturday, when they come back here in the Premier League. Eze has, unsurprisingly, been lively.
80 min: Another Palace change: Riedewald off for David Ozoh, born in Valencia but joined Palace when he was eight. Now 18, he has played for England youth teams. The first I have seen of him.
78 min: Curious to see Van de Beek here. In some ways, it is a surprise to still see him at Old Trafford. He was so, so good in that Ajax side, coached by ETH and alongside Onana, but that was three or four years ago now.
76 min: The game is petering out a little. Garnacho turns neatly, but then stumbles. Casemiro nutmegs Riedewald but then passes backwards. Flashes of quality but without the tempo of earlier.
74 min: “With apologies to Oasis, are United back? asks Peter Oh. “I’d say Definitely Mejbri”
72 min: More changes: Martial off for Rasmus Hojlund.
71 min: Jonny Evans nearly makes it four! The veteran nips into the near post and nearly glances a header past Johnstone but the Palace keeper makes a good save and grabs the ball at the second attempt, right on the line.
70 min: A sensible substitution: Hannibal off for Donny van de Beek, who gets a heartening clap from the home fans. This bas been a feature of tonight: encouragement to players that have been under pressure: Martial, Maguire, Van de Beek, etc.
68 min: Chance for Mateta! Onana’s first save of the night, and it’s a good one with his feet. Eze slips a delicious pass into Mateta’s stride, the big striker takes one touch and fires fiercely at the near post, but United’s keeper is equal to it. This is a big night for Onana, remember. He needs a clean sheet.
65 min: Clyne blazes over after a really good counter attack from Palace, who have definitely been enlivened since Hughes and Eze have taken to the field. Hannibal is EXTREMELY lucky not to be sent off, again cynically fouling in the build-up. The referee played advantage and seemingly forgot to come back and give a second booking for the United youngster.
63 min: “Do you think Mount played badly and/or the decision was tactical, or the plan was always for Mount to get a half in seeing as he is coming back from injury?” asks S1.
I think it was probably planned, but I always think that being taken off at half-time looks bad. And for a club where optics are so important, where Twitter trolls and unofficial club fan accounts try to dictate the narrative, that means something. ETH could easily have given him another five/10 minutes in the second half, let the Old Trafford clap him off (because he played well) and it would be deemed a positive night for Mount. But here we are speculating.
61 min: I don’t know a great deal about Gore, although he was involved in this incident last year. Both Gore and Martial share the pitch tonight.
Anthony Martial was involved in an angry confrontation with a Manchester United youth-team player during a training session last week overseen by Erik ten Hag.
After a strong tackle from Dan Gore on Martial at Carrington, the club’s training base, on Wednesday the Frenchman is thought to have retaliated but the 18-year-old refused to back down. Martial and Gore, a midfielder signed from Burnley in July, were pulled apart and the 26-year-old subsequently apologised to the youngster.
59 min: Speaking of Eze, here he comes, off the Palace bench alongside Will Hughes. They replace Schlupp and Doucouré.
Manchester United also make changes: Varane and Amrabat off (the latter getting a roaring ovation) for Jonny Evans and Dan Gore, who makes his senior debut!
57 min: With a couple of notable exceptions (Maddison, Eze), the No 10 role does seem to be becoming less of ‘a thing’ in the Premier League these days. Even Kevin De Bruyne generally does his best work from the right. More prominent are holding midfielders (Casemiro, Rodri, Rice, Palhinha) who dictate play and create from deep. Often the pass before the assist. But in this case, the assist.
Manchester United 3-0 Crystal Palace (Martial 55)
Martial scores! Poor defending from Palace. A deep cross came into a dangerous area from Casemiro and Martial stole a yard on Clyne at the back post and sidefooted the ball across Johnstone into the corner! It almost certainly wasn’t intended for the goalscorer but Martial was alert and finished well.
Updated
51 min: Hannibal nips at Ayew (again) and the Palace players politely ask if that is enough to send the Manchester United off the field. It is not, but one suspects, that Hannibal has had his final warning. A little too enthusiastic there. But the sort of energy United fans have been craving.
49 min: Looks like Palace have moved to a 3-4-3. Looks like they are trying to go man-to-man with United’s formation.
47 min: Onana, a full 40 yards from his goal, plays a risky pass to Varane, but the Frenchman does well to play United out of trouble. Had Palace intercepted the ball there, the goal would have been open.
Peeeeeeeep! We’re underway again.
Both sides make changes at centre back. Guehi is on for Rak-Sakyi, and the England international takes the Palace armband from Ayew.
Meanwhile, Lindelof comes on for Mount. Not a great look for the former Chelsea man.
Meanwhile … the Lionesses have been beaten!
Half-time reading:
Half-time: Manchester United 2-0 Crystal Palace
United have been assured, Palace have been largely woeful.
45+2 min: Mount, too, has been lively. It’s not that Mason Mount isn’t a good footballer, he really (really) is. It’s not that he isn’t worth £55m. At the age of 24, he is! It’s just he doesn’t really fit into the United side (just as he doesn’t fit into the England side), particularly as Bruno Fernandes will always be the first-choice No 10. And he isn’t combative enough to sit further back. So it’s an expensive transfer for a second-string square peg in a round hole.
45 min: Five minutes added on for injury time.
44 min: A brilliant Casemiro crossfield pass releases Mount on the right, and a testing cross has Johnstone scrambling with Martial lingering at the back post. Ignoring his goal, Casemiro has quietly been one of the best players on the pitch.
42 min: “Regarding Dean Henderson,” emails Harriet Osborn - “eccentric stress is a hell of a thing.”
Eccentric stress sounds like the sort of thing I experienced when I found out Jimmy Carr was doing a new Netflix show.
40 min: Palace have finally put their foot on the ball and are enjoying some possession. Although Onana is yet to make a save in the United goal.
35 min: Half-time in the other Carabao Cup games tonight, which all kicked off at 7.45pm BST.
Bradford City 0-1 Middlesbrough
Exeter 0-0 Luton
Ipswich 2-2 Wolves
Mansfield 1-1 Peterborough
Port Vale 0-0 Sutton
Salford City 0-3 Burnley
“You drew the wrong match,” emails Joe Pearson. “Ipswich v Wolves is tied at 2-2. Riveting stuff!”
That did pop out as the most likely to be an ‘upset’. Ipswich are flying in the Championship under Kieran McKenna, another bod previously of this parish.
32 min: “I thought Sofyan Amrabat was the best defensive midfielder in the 2022 World Cup,” emails Niall O’Keeffe. “If Pellistri and Garnacho start more often, Varane stays out of harms way, and the rest start playing to their potential then, 2023-24 season may not be so bad.”
Amrabat has started well here. But this is the first game United have bossed in a while. Let’s not get too carried away …
30 min: United have controlled this game thus far, with Palace threatening a couple of times on the counter. But they do so again, and Hannibal clips Ayew cynically to stop Palace in their tracks. Booked.
28 min: Should mention Holding was booked in the build-up to that Pellistri chance. He swiped through Martial, but the referee played advantage before coming back.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Crystal Palace (Casemiro 27)
Mount delivers an outswinging corner, and Casemiro rises at the penalty spot to glance a looping header into the far corner! Preposterously easy. Hodgson will be fuming.
Updated
26 min: Sensational tackle from Richards! The Palace defender denies almost a certain goal from Pellistri, after Mount slipped in the Uruguayan with an outrageously disguised through ball. Brilliant tackle, though, from Richards, who got back and somehow hooked his leg around to prevent the shout. Corner to United.
24 min: Dalot has the freedom of the ring wing to break forward and gets another fierce shot off, parried by Johnstone. Ayew is failing to track his runner, and Mitchell is being overwhelmed at left back for Palace.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace (Garnacho 21)
Two minutes after coming on, Johnstone picks the ball out of his net. A wonderful underlap from Dalot means he gets to the byline, cuts the ball back cleverly, and Garnacho is there just in front of the penalty spot to sweep it into the net! He’s some player, the young Argentinian.
Updated
18 min: Incredibly frustrating for Henderson, who missed the last few months of last season with injury at Forest. One just hopes he warmed up enough. It was a very routine kick under no pressure, and it just looked like he pulled his thigh as he kicked it out.
16 min: Dean Henderson, formerly of United and on his Palace debut remember, seems to have pulled something during a routine long kick out from the back. He immediately signals to the bench. It will be Sam Johnstone, also formerly of United (and who has performed so well in recent weeks), who comes on.
12 min: “So Maguire, Mount and Martial starting … either ETH knows something or he’s feeling confident for silverware elsewhere,” emails Andrew Lawrence from Auckland, New Zealand. “I can’t see anything coming from PL, CL or the FA Cup so perhaps he’s got a wizards hat? Looking forward to Hannibal though - he was superb against Burnley.”
It’s true, Hannibal has made a real impression in recent weeks.
10 min: Martial, with only four goals in 2023, seems bereft of confidence and a heavy touch in his own half gives away a dangerous Palace free kick, which ultimately comes to nothing. There’s a good player in there somewhere, but you do fear for his Old Trafford future with the arrival of Hojlund and the ability of Rashford to play through the middle.
8 min: Schlupp and Ayew, two very underrated players, combine nicely down the left, with the former swinging in a dangerous cross. Only some excellent defending from Maguire stops the visitors from taking the lead! Mateta was lurking at the back post.
6 min: Palace are sitting in a low block for now. All 11 men in their own half. I don’t think Mateta has had a kick yet.
4 min: This is not a United XI that would be out of place in the Premier League but this is obviously an experimental shape. Let’s see how creative United are, and how many potential holes Palace can exploit.
2 min: Trying to work out what shape United are playing. I think it’s a 3-5-2, with Dalot the third centre back with Maguire and Varane, Pellestri on the right wing, with Garnacho on the left. It does seem that Amrabat will fill in at left back when required, which is something of a novelty for him.
Peeeeeeeeep! We’re off at Old Trafford.
The teams
Two very strong line-ups from both teams. Mason Mount makes his first appearance since the defeat at Spurs, over a month ago.
Dean Henderson and Rob Holding make their debuts for Palace.
Man Utd: Onana, Dalot, Maguire, Varane, Pellistri, Amrabat, Casemiro, Garnacho, Mejbri, Mount, Martial.
Subs: Bayindir, Lindelof, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Hojlund, Heaton,
van de Beek, Evans, Gore.
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Clyne, Holding, Richards, Mitchell, Doucoure, Riedewald, Ayew, Schlupp, Rak-Sakyi, Mateta.
Subs: Johnstone, Ward, Guehi, Eze, Andersen, Hughes, Ebiowei, Ozoh,
Ola-Adebomi.
This is underway, btw.
Of course, the finest goal in this fixture (also in the League Cup) is …
There are six other Carabao Cup fixtures tonight, all of them 7.45pm BST kick-offs. I’ll keep you informed with intermittent updates.
Bradford City v Middlesbrough
Exeter v Luton
Ipswich v Wolves
Mansfield v Peterborough
Port Vale v Sutton
Salford City v Burnley
Preamble
This is, in effect, a dress rehearsal for Saturday’s Premier League fixture between Manchester United and Crystal Palace, also at Old Trafford. But for Erik ten Hag, this could be a season-defining game, or at least a start-to-the-season-defining game.
United have, at best, lacked fluency and at worst, been a bit of a shambles; a far cry from where many thought they would be over a year into Ten Hag’s reign. They squad is jam-packed full of quality, they have invested heavily and they have a good mix of experience and youth. Yet so far there have been narrow wins over Wolves, Forest and Burnley and defeats to Tottenham, Brighton, Arsenal and Bayern. So they’ve beaten the weaker teams and lost to all the (arguably) stronger ones. It doesn’t scream revolution.
Something is up, and perhaps this is the night where ETH figures it out. Not all of Manchester United’s problems are on the pitch right now, but certainly we can expect a few other fringe players to get a run out tonight, and that could change the Dutchman’s thinking for future selections. Perhaps something will click.
For Palace, the first objective this season will be survival and despite the club making a good start this season, anything else will be largely seen as a distraction. Their season will not be defined by a League Cup visit to Old Trafford but the club have never won a top-tier league title, FA Cup or League Cup – should they beat United tonight, Roy Hodgson would be foolish not to chase a little bit of glory. One cannot underestimate what a Wembley win would mean to those in south London.
Kick-off: 8pm BST.
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