Sponsored by. RUBEN AMORIM's striker experiment went down like a lead balloon as Crystal Palace beat Manchester United 2-0 at Old Trafford. United set pieces woes continued. And double goalscorer Jean-Philippe Mateta was the only striker on the Old Trafford pitch on Sunday. Amorim's latest bold new tactic saw midfielder Kobbie Mainoo lead the line as the No.9. And it failed miserably. Mainoo starred as a No.10 in United's Europa League win against FCSB win on Thursday. But Amorim can't do this again in the Prem.

United started well but soon struggled to get out of their own half as the Eagles established a foothold and were organised without the ball. The Red Devils had ten shots in the first-half, zero on target. And Palace showed United how to use wing-backs. No matter the system, individual errors showed the fragility that lurks below the surface as Amorim can't get a tune out of this lot. Was left vulnerable by a shaky back-line. But his opposite number Dean Henderson, who departed Old Trafford for Selhurst Park in 2022, showed him up.

Was beaten by Lacroix's looping header, which came off the crossbar into Mateta's path. Not much he could've done about the second goal. Came in for De Ligt, who was benched. Was inches away from scoring his first United goal early on. His positioning was a problem at times. Lost his battle with striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, who held the ball up well and got in behind every time and was left stranded for his goal.

Hasn't connected with Yoro. Palace, namely Sarr, opened them both up with ease and should've buried some chances through Mateta. Was stretchered off after jarring his knee in the 79th minute. Seems to be enjoying his new role in Amorim's 3-4-3, with sharp, crisp passing from deep into the forward lines. The Argentine has been scoring the goals recently, but blazed a centre-back's shot over the bar on the brink of half-time.

He was okay in the right wing-back role again but it is obviously not his best position. Was asked to shoot too often, with Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee both sitting on the bench. Bizarrely ducked for Munoz's back post headed chance on 10 minutes. Awful link-up play with a horrible blind pass inside the Palace box in a promising team position before the break. He's not a left winger. Missing in the middle when Mateta's stunning 80-yard run. Missed half a chance in the second-half.

Restricted. Couldn't get forward much and was unlucky not to score from his usual 20-yard territory after being denied by Henderson. Booked. Great individual runs, on and off the ball. Dropped to wing-back after Mainoo came off and was involved in anything good creatively. Predictable build-up. But worked hard tracking back as one of the two 10s. Huge experiment by Amorim to have Mainoo lead the line, albeit falsely. It didn't pay off, but it wasn't all his fault.