Set-piece theft pays off for Man Utd: Amorim

LONDON — Ruben Amorim said stealing set-piece routines played a key role in Manchester United's fightback to win 2-1 at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Amorim has spent much of this United reign under fire, and the pressure was mounting again after a limp 1-0 home defeat against 10-man Everton on Monday.

When Jean-Philippe Mateta broke the deadlock for Palace in the 36th minute with a retaken penalty, Amorim was on the rocks again.

But, Joshua Zirkzee leveled nine minutes into the second half after he met on Bruno Fernandes' freekick in the box and converted from a seemingly impossible angle. United captain Fernandes then teed up Mason Mount to drill home the winner after 63 minutes from another freekick.

It was another away match with a set-piece goal for United following efforts from corners at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham earlier in November.

Amorim said United had spent time finding ways to use the set-piece routines that have become popular in the Premier League this season. "We have more time to work on them, and we work a lot and we are learning," he said.

"We learn a lot in England. You are used to that with set-pieces, but when you come to the Premier League, you learn a lot about how other teams do it.

"And we are stealing a lot of things to score goals."

Amorim warned his players that fatigue would set in for Palace after Thursday's trip to France to face Strasbourg in the Conference League.

United duly took advantage with its second half escape act.

"I said to the players that we need to be more alive, and you could feel that. If you are more alive, you are in more places, near the ball more often and everyone did that, but we also need to understand that the opponent is tired," he said.

"If you see the last plays of the game, they were struggling so much to get the ball out of the box, and you could feel it in the way they moved in the second half that they were getting tired, and we had talked about that.

"I had the feeling that, if we scored one goal, (the game) would change completely."

Zirkzee on target

Zirkzee's first league goal in 25 matches was a welcome boost for the much-maligned Dutch striker, who lashed home from a tight angle.

"He was really important, but it's not just the goal," Amorim said.

"Goals give confidence, but Joshua has also improved a lot in how he holds the ball. That should give him a lot of confidence.

"Even the runs behind. In the first half, he struggled on the duels, but won some duels in the second half.

"We improved a lot because of the quality of Joshua in the second half, and it's important for him to understand that it is not just the goals."

The goal, though, ended a scoring drought for Zirkzee.

The Dutch striker hadn't scored in England's top flight since his double against Everton on Dec 1, 2024. He finally ended that streak — a day shy of a year — with his stunning strike at Selhurst Park.

It was his moment of individual brilliance that fired United back into the game after Mateta's firsthalf penalty gave Palace the lead, but not without added drama.

The France international shot the ball low and hard into the corner of the net. However, he was adjudged to have double-kicked his original spot kick and was directed to retake it, as per the rule clarification that was introduced after Julian Alvarez's accidental double touch in a shootout against Real Madrid last season helped eliminate Atletico Madrid from the Champions League.

Then, in the 54th minute, collecting the ball in the box from Fernandes' freekick, Zirkzee read the flight of the ball perfectly, staying onside and meeting it in the area just wide of the left upright. He spun and slotted home for only his eighth goal since joining United from Bologna last year.

Mount then struck the winner from the edge of the box in the 63rd minute, as United ended Palace's 12-game unbeaten home run in the league.

AFP