Manchester United beat Crystal Palace today, 2-1, to move up into third place, with the result of the Newcastle match still pending. There is a whole lot to discuss in this one, but we’ll start with the melee that ensued between both sides, and ended with Casemiro getting booked with a red card.
The fight began with this touchline collision between Antony and Jeffrey Schlupp, which saw the United winger totally flop.
Take everything else away from this incident…
How embarrassing is Antony? Playing dead on the floor and sprinting up 2 seconds later pic.twitter.com/k4UMS7x11s
— Matchday365 – Palace (@Matchday365CPFC) February 4, 2023
Within seconds of the Brazilian’s diving (making his already not believable play-acting seem even more ridiculous) go aggressively after his opponent Schlupp.
Casemiro jumped in to the brawl, to defend Antony, and the midfielder would eventually get sent off after a VAR check showed him grabbing Will Hughes’ neck. Here is a longer video of the incident:
Watch until the end… Casemiro’s red card needs to get overturned! pic.twitter.com/5hdbbBd9zc
— ?El. (@UtdEIIis) February 4, 2023
It was a questionable decision to say the least, but it was what it was, and it meant that United had to play from the 70′ mark on down to ten men. Luckily, they already had a 2-0 cushion at that point, thanks to a Hughes penalty setting up a chance for Bruno Fernandes to open the scoring from the penalty spot.
Marcus Rashford added another, as he continued his purple patch this season. Have a look at the video of the scoring strike below:
Marcus Rashford goal from the Stretford End ? #MUFC pic.twitter.com/sQmjBgPXa7
— UsmaanTalksUtd (@UsmaanTalkUTD) February 4, 2023
Rashford has now scored as many goals in 2023 (8) as the entire squads of Chelsea and Liverpool combined! But while the high-flying forward had a silky-smooth finish here, check out that assist from Luke Shaw!
Wow, Shaw is your deserved man of the match, as he made plays as aesthetically pleasing as that all day long today.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.