Manchester United‘s woeful home form this season continued on Sunday as they fell to a 2-0 defeat by Crystal Palace in the English Premier League on Sunday.
The Red Devils have now lost seven of their first 13 home matches of the league season, for the first time since 1893-1894, over 130 years ago.
Also, since the beginning of last season only Wolves (16) have lost more Premier League home games than Manchester United’s 13, according to Opta statistics.
Despite United chasing a fourth successive win in all competitions, Palace were much the better side in the first half at Old Trafford on Sunday, passing up several chances to capitalise on their superiority.
The visitors did make one count after 64 minutes, Jean-Philippe Mateta reacting first after the ball had come off the crossbar to give his side a deserved lead.
United raised their intensity after going behind but lacked ideas, with Mateta condemning the hosts to another embarrassing defeat with a late second, helping Palace climb above 13th-placed United into 12th in the standings.
United came into Sunday’s encounter on the back of their best run under new manager Ruben Amorim, having secured a third successive win in all competitions at Steaua Bucharest on Thursday.
Amorim has, however, yet to taste back-to-back league wins since he took charge in late November. No United manager since Tommy Docherty in 1972-1973 has had to wait so long to achieve that.
After a pre-match tribute to those who died in the Munich air disaster 67 years ago, Kobbie Mainoo, playing in an unfamiliar central striker role, went close to giving United the perfect start, striking the post with a deflected shot.
Palace, in fine away form having won four of their previous five on the road, looked the more threatening early on, and were later rewarded.
United defender Lisandro Martinez was carried off on a stretcher in the second half with what looked like a serious knee injury.
Meanwhile, at the Gtech Community Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur bounced back from a four-game losing streak in the Premier League with a vital 2-0 win over Brentford thanks to Vitaly Janelt’s own goal and Pape Sarr’s late strike.
The deadlock was broken when Spurs captain Son Heung-min’s whipped corner bounced in off Janelt as he was grappling with Yves Bissouma in the 29th minute.
Spurs had dropped a league-high 21 points from winning positions and not won a league game by a single goal this season, but they defended doggedly in the face of Brentford pressure.
Substitute Sarr nutmegged goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson with a lovely finish to secure the three points, though the away fans still chanted “we want Levy out” at chairman Daniel Levy.
The victory was only Spurs’ second win in 12 league games and moved them up to 14th with 27 points.
Brentford, meanwhile, had been unbeaten at home this season before falling to four losses in their last five home league games. They remain 11th with 31 points from 24 games.
