More than half a century has passed but Manchester United supporters of a certain vintage might recall an infamous five-goal thrashing at Crystal Palace that proved to be Frank O’Farrell’s last match in charge.
They were finding it impossible to move on from the Sir Matt Busby era and little seemed about to change under O’Farrell, a lovely man by all accounts but not up to the task in hand so they sacked him and installed Tommy Docherty.
With the girders rattling once again inside Selhurst Park, Erik ten Hag watched his depleted team torn apart as a similar mood of inevitably settled over his tenure. This feels very much like the last knockings for the latest man to be thrown the challenge of restoring the glories United feasted upon when Sir Alex Ferguson was at the helm.
Ten Hag stood on the touchline with not a trace of club branding on his clothing and rumours of an escape route to Bayern Munich swirling in the air as Oliver Glasner’s re-energised Palace smashed in four and the home choir sang about him getting sacked in the morning.
Michael Olise led the demolition, neatly framing a sublime individual display with the first and the fourth goals. Jean-Phillippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell were also on target, and Andre Onana made a series of saves to curb the embarrassment.
Michael Olise scored twice as Crystal Palace thrashed Man United on Monday night
Olise produced two brilliant strikes to ramp up the pressure on Man United boss Erik ten Hag
It was another miserable outing for Ten Hag’s men as Palace ran riot at Selhurst Park
They have won only twice in their last 10 Premier League outings and have now lost 13 league games this season. Home fixtures against Arsenal and Newcastle are still to come, followed by an FA Cup final at Wembley against Manchester City.
Ten Hag was defiant when he spoke afterwards but he is losing his grip as this team disintegrates around him.
He came to Selhurst without his captain Bruno Fernandes, absent through injury for the first time since his move to Old Trafford, and Harry Maguire, also injured. The full extent of the casualty list perhaps best illustrated by the two goalkeepers and four teenagers named among nine substitutes.
Casemiro led the team out and deputised at centre-half alongside Jonny Evans on a night to forget for the Brazilian. He had two goals ruled out. First for a foul on the goalkeeper by Rasmus Hojlund and the second for offside.
Unfortunately for United, he proved to be just as much of a goal threat at the other end of the pitch, from the moment Olise skipped around his reckless challenge charging out of position into midfield and opened the scoring inside 13 minutes.
All the other white shirts in the vicinity went into retreat and Olise took it as an invitation to shoot, firing low past Onana.
Palace were good in the first half and better in the second, with wing-backs speeding forward with relish to link up with Olise and Eberechi Eze, who drifted inside and pulled the visitors out of shape.
An exchange of passes featuring Daniel Munoz on the right ended with an Olise shot crashing his teammate Mateta. Another effort by Olise was fired crisply, straight at Onana after a pass cut back by Mitchell.
Olise opened the scoring with a cool finish after skipping past challenges in midfield
Jean-Philippe Mateta doubled the lead with a thunderous strike after getting past Jonny Evans
The United players had no answer for the Eagles in front of a delighted home crowd
Casemiro found the net from a corner in the 27th minute but Hojlund had barged Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson as he jumped to take the header out of the sky.
It was the correct decision although referee Jarred Gillett seemed strangely reluctant to make it. Perhaps he needed time to digest all the information from the array of gadgetry about his body, including his body camera. At least the right decision was reached.
Palace scored the second, five minutes before half time, winning the ball with pressure on halfway before central defender Chris Richards picked out Mateta, who left Evans standing with a change of pace and direction and crashed a rising shot past Onana at his near post.
For Mateta, it was the 10th goal of a wonderful purple patch of 14 games since the start of February.
For Ten Hag, a neat summary of the state of his team at half time.
Two fading stalwarts in central defence, unable to cope with the speed, movement and power in Palace’s attacking trio and exposed by a flimsy midfield, two of whom were woefully low on match action and the other still in his rookie season, offering no protection.
The frontline appeared incapable of holding up the ball for long enough to offer any respite and the wide players did not track back to help their full backs.
Manchester United supporters amused themselves by singing about Eric Cantona, who launched his kung-fu kick at a Crystal Palace fan in this fixture in 1995, and they offered terrific vocal support as things went from bad to worse for their team.
Ten Hag sent on Sofyan Amrabat in the second half, an attempt to add bite, but nothing much changed.
Tyrick Mitchell made it three as he finished off a good move from close range after the break
Olise celebrated with Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner after netting the fourth
The united players looked shell-shocked as they suffered a humiliating defeat in London
Casemiro had a second goal ruled out. This time, just offside as he attacked a free-kick delivered by Christian Eriksen. The Brazilian’s header hit the post and he tapped in the rebound but the flag was up and replays backed the call.
Events might have turned had that goal been good, but Glasner’s team scored their third in the 58th minute from a short corner and a cross by Adam Wharton, knocked back across his own goal by Diogo Dalot under pressure from Joachim Andersen and finished from close range by Mitchell.
Olise’s second of the night was lashed past Onana, a ferocious swerving shot with his left foot after Casemiro had lost the ball to Munoz deep. It was his ninth goal of the season in only 17 appearances.
Odsonne Edouard, who came on to replace Mateta, almost made it five when he struck a post from distance in stoppage time. The fact it wasn’t five proved to be the smallest of small mercies for Ten Hag.
