Man United Vs Crystal Palace: Sesko header seals 2-1 comeback at Old Trafford
In the Premier League fixture man united vs crystal palace, Manchester United recovered from an early deficit to win 2-1 at Old Trafford. Benjamin Sesko and Bruno Fernandes were central to the turnaround after Palace had taken the lead and finished the match with 10 men.
Match overview and full-time scores
The day’s slate featured three Premier League results: Brighton 2-1 Nottingham Forest, Fulham 2-1 Tottenham and Manchester United 2-1 Crystal Palace. Welbeck supplied the Albion winner in the first half for Brighton. Fulham’s Alex Iwobi and Wilson scored as the Cottagers held on for a 2-1 victory over Tottenham. At Old Trafford, Sesko and Fernandes helped the hosts come from behind to beat a 10-man Crystal Palace side.
Man United Vs Crystal Palace details
Maxence Lacroix put Crystal Palace ahead early, giving the visitors a fourth-minute lead. The match turned in the second half when Lacroix was adjudged to have pulled Matheus Cunha back as Cunha entered the box; referee Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot after an initial hesitation. A subsequent VAR review led to Lacroix being sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, and Bruno Fernandes converted the penalty to level the scores. Eight minutes after that equaliser, Benjamin Sesko headed home from Fernandes’ cross to complete the comeback.
Red card, penalty and VAR
The dismissal of Lacroix came 10 minutes into the second half. Match officials first awarded a penalty for the pull on Matheus Cunha, then, after VAR review, issued a red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Palace manager Oliver Glasner described the decision as very harsh, saying the contact starts outside the box and suggesting there may have been an "Old Trafford bonus" in the referee's call. Michael Dawson called it a foul, noting Cunha got away from Lacroix and that Lacroix had his hands on Cunha's shoulder.
Sesko, Fernandes and match statistics
Benjamin Sesko celebrated his first start under Michael Carrick by scoring the decisive goal; the header was the Slovenian’s fourth in five games. Bruno Fernandes supplied the penalty and the cross for the winner. Attendance at Old Trafford was 73, 934. The win extended Manchester United’s unbeaten Premier League run to 11 matches and lifted them back up to third, marking the club’s highest league position since May 2023 in one account of the table; other coverage of the afternoon placed Crystal Palace either 14th or 15th after the result, with Brighton jumping above Palace by beating Nottingham Forest.
Manager reactions and wider comments
Palace manager Oliver Glasner said his team had the lead and played well for the first 30 minutes, but that the penalty and red card decided the game; he called the foul one that "starts outside the box" and again referenced an "Old Trafford bonus" as a possible factor in the decision. He added that going down to 10 men when the score was 1-1 left Palace with 30 minutes to play short-handed, and noted his side had made forced changes to their back three over recent weeks.
Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira reflected on his side’s matchup with Brighton, saying eight days to prepare a game is different from three and that pressing without proper coordination and energy led to mistakes. He described a stronger second-half reaction, adjustments to their system without working on them, and the importance of focusing on the present. On three goals in the first 15 minutes of that match he said it was "with mistakes" and stressed the need to prepare to press correctly. Fulham boss Marco Silva praised Alex Iwobi’s goal as "one of his best goals, " calling it a brilliant moment and applauding an overall dynamic attacking performance.
