Manchester United’s bitterly disappointing season finally came to an end on Sunday after a 1-0 defeat by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
A first half strike from Wilfried Zaha was enough so secure the three points for Palace and, in doing so, it left his former club Manchester United finish the campaign with their lowest Premier League total points ever of 58.
However it wasn’t all bad news. Despite the defeat United still managed to secure sixth spot thanks to West Ham losing at Brighton. This means the Reds can look forward to the Europa League rather than the Europa Conference League next season, though it’s still a far cry away from the Champions League.
Truth be told, yesterday’s defeat came as little surprise. Playing Crystal Palace away at Selhurst Park is always a tough fixture and given United’s form this season few expected the Reds to pick up the three points here. As soon as Palace went 1-0 up, you never felt confident United would get back into the game and without Ronaldo leading the line United didn’t have a goal threat in them.
The Portuguese’s 24 goals has been a shining light in what has been a bitterly disappointing season for the club and you dread to think where United would be this season without him.
If there was one consolation to come out of Sunday’s defeat it was that the season is now finally over and with that United can now start to look ahead to next season. The arrival of Erik ten Hag as the new head coach is a good start but there is a lot more that need to be done to turn things around at the club.
It’s a long road ahead for United but you get the feeling that the Dutchman is the right man for the job and, if backed, can be the man to finally bring the good times back to Old Trafford.
