A superb goal by Fred gave Ralf Rangnick a winning start as Manchester United’s interim manager as they beat Crystal Palace 1-0.
United enjoyed the majority of the first-half possession and their first sight at goal came after five minutes when Alex Telles fired wide from the edge of the penalty area.
Cristiano Ronaldo was then denied by a last-ditch Marc Guehi block and had a free-kick saved by Vicente Guaita before the break.
Palace were a threat on the counter-attack, however, and Jordan Ayew came close to an opener when he fired a great chance wide on 74 minutes.
But three minutes later Man Utd had an unlikely hero in Fred, who curled into the top-left corner from the edge of the area to lift Man Utd to sixth, three points adrift of fourth-placed West Ham.
A third consecutive defeat drops Palace to 12th with 16 points.
See: Man Utd report | Crystal Palace report
Next fixtures
Man Utd: 11 Dec v Norwich (A)
Crystal Palace: 12 Dec v Everton (H)
Match officials
Referee: Craig Pawson. Assistants: Lee Betts, Scott Ledger. Fourth official: Jonathan Moss. VAR: Simon Hooper. Assistant VAR: Derek Eaton.
