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Comebacks play an outsized place in Manchester United’s history. They are starting to form the tale of their season. The side who finished 15th last year have recovered to take third place now. A team who looked in danger of missing out on Champions League football under Ruben Amorim are now on course to reclaim their place among the European elite under Michael Carrick. A game was won after trailing, taking the Englishman’s return to seven points from losing positions. And then there is the comeback of Carrick himself, back at Old Trafford; perhaps, at this rate, for rather longer than originally envisaged.
“We showed that belief and personality,” said Carrick, savouring the way defeat was turned into victory. It can be a trait in United fightbacks and there was a familiar plotline. This was scarcely the first turnaround powered by Bruno Fernandes; indeed the 18th Premier League game in which he has both scored and assisted for United took him past David Beckham. The captain continues to be inspirational and he delivered a cathartic celebration, punching the air, when his enticing cross was headed in by Benjamin Sesko for the decider. “It feels like a big result,” said Fernandes. “We were behind and had to show some character.”
For Sesko, back in the team for the first time since Darren Fletcher’s brief tenure, a bullet header seemed proof of Carrick’s capacity to make the right choice. He had scored three goals for the Englishman as a replacement. He was rewarded with a start, as Carrick was by Sesko’s latest goal. “It's not a gamble,” said the manager, of just the third change to his starting 11 he has made. “It wasn't that big of a decision.”
And yet Crystal Palace may wonder if Sesko would have risen unopposed had the excellent Maxence Lacroix still been on the pitch. If the tide had started to turn after half an hour, Palace were swamped after their best defender was expelled as he conceded a penalty. “The red card changed the game,” said Palace manager Oliver Glasner. “It still feels it was the wrong decision.”
Lacroix tugged Matheus Cunha, who was racing on to Fernandes’ pass. It began outside the box and continued just inside it. “Matheus Cunha was very smart,” continued Glasner. “For me it is not a penalty; maybe he could have conceded the red card with a foul outside the box. It is little bit of an Old Trafford bounce.” Five minutes after offence, Fernandes slotted in the spot kick. Then his seventh assist of 2026 brought Sesko’s seventh goal of the calendar year. “He is desperate to do well, he works so hard and he is a pleasure to work with,” said Carrick. “He is such a real threat. I am really excited where he can get to. He has got huge potential.”
The result could be interpreted as Carrick getting the better of a potential rival for the permanent post at Old Trafford. That rather ignores the very different contexts of the two clubs, however.
This was the same old story for Palace. In November, they faced United three days after European exertions, led and then lost as they tired. In the return fixture, Glasner’s starting 11 had 88 more club appearances this season than their United counterparts, and then were depleted by Lacroix’s dismissal.
Palace began threatening to chalk up a third straight league win at Old Trafford and a fifth in seven trips. United made a slow start, and it may be a concern that they have too often under Carrick.
It was not the first time in the last 16 months that they have had problems with a 3-4-3 formation. At least this time it wasn’t their own. Glasner has configured a team better than Amorim ever did, at least in his time at United, and Palace outmanoeuvred their hosts at times. They were superior for the first half-hour. They were beaten by United’s fresher legs, Palace wearying as they retreated into 3-4-2.
They had gone ahead when Lacroix doubled his tally of Palace goals within 72 hours. He evaded Leny Yoro to meet Brennan Johnson’s deep corner with a looping header. Johnson was sacrificed after Lacroix’s sending off, supplier and scorer departing within a couple of minutes.
It had been an awkward start for United. Luke Shaw went off. Senne Lammens saved from Ismaila Sarr, preventing Palace from scoring a second; the Senegalese, however, had denied United an equaliser when clearing Harry Maguire’s header off the line.
But as United started to exert pressure, they encountered resistance from an Old Trafford old boy. Dean Henderson was terrific, saving from Sesko and Fernandes when Palace led, from Casemiro and, twice, Amad Diallo when United were ahead. He kept the score down. United kept on winning.
“To put together the run we have had to do it in different ways and that is encouraging to me,” said Carrick. He now has 19 points from a possible 21. It is the sort of run that could complete his comeback, by making him manager on a permanent basis.