Manchester United climbed above Crystal Palace and into the Premier League’s top six with a 2-1 comeback victory at Selhurst Park, ending the hosts’ impressive 12-match unbeaten home league streak.

Palace have fallen behind less often than any other Premier League side this season, yet they were almost trailing within 60 seconds. Diogo Dalot’s long throw caused chaos in the box, and Dean Henderson reacted sharply to block Casemiro’s close-range strike. Moments later, the Brazilian steered a header wide from a Bruno Fernandes free-kick, but United’s early spark faded quickly.

With the low winter sun troubling United’s back line, Palace grew into the contest. Jean-Philippe Mateta twice pounced on errors from Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro but dragged both attempts wide, while Senne Lammens comfortably dealt with tame efforts from Daichi Kamada and Adam Wharton.

The pressure kept mounting. Yoro temporarily redeemed himself with a superb block to deny Yeremy Pino, only to concede a penalty shortly after when he brought down Mateta in the area.

Mateta’s first conversion was ruled out for a double touch, but he made no mistake on the retake, sending Lammens the wrong way again. It was his seventh penalty scored from seven attempts this league season and his 17th Premier League goal of 2025—second only to Erling Haaland—giving Palace a deserved half-time advantage.

The signs weren’t promising for United, who had failed to score in their previous four league meetings with Palace. But they emerged from the break with renewed energy and needed less than 10 minutes to level. Joshua Zirkzee, without a league goal in 24 matches, smashed in a superb near-post volley after being picked out by Fernandes.

United’s dominance from set pieces proved decisive again just after the hour mark. Fernandes tapped a free-kick to Mason Mount, who drilled a low shot beneath a disjointed Palace wall and inside the near post, sparking huge celebrations in the away section.

Chasing the game, Palace struggled to build sustained momentum, while United managed the final stages with composure to claim only their second league away win in 12 outings—and just their fourth in their last 27 Premier League visits to London.

The victory provided an ideal response for Ruben Amorim’s side after last week’s heavy loss to Everton. For Palace, however, it marked back-to-back matches in which they surrendered a lead to lose 2-1, and their first home defeat to United since July 2020.