Erik ten Hag's third visit to Selhurst Park finds Manchester United in a drastically different situation to his previous appearances at the ground.
A stoic Ten Hag watched United in person for the first time as incoming manager as they lost on the final day in May 2022. United immediately turned the page the next day as Ten Hag pressed the flesh of hundreds of staff and journalists at Old Trafford for his unveiling.
In January last year, United were on an eight-game winning run and had just toppled City in the Old Trafford derby. Some prematurely discussed a possible championship challenge before the halfway point.
Had United beaten Palace, they would have leapfrogged City into second, throwing up the possibility of a first top-of-the-table encounter with Arsenal since 2010.
Only United conceded an exquisite Michael Olise free-kick in the 91st minute. At Arsenal four days later, Eddie Nketiah notched a 90th-minute winner. Nobody mentioned a title challenge again.
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If that week could be dismissed as an aberration, United's game management this season has been an abomination. There have been 34 goals in the 80th minute and onwards in United's 90-minute contests. 18 have been scored by the opposition.
This is also a joint-record season for United added-time winners. The only previous campaign United notched four winners beyond the 90th minute was 2018-19. Three were on Jose Mourinho's watch before his residency at The Lowry ended the week before Christmas.
As jaw-dropping as the collapse was against Coventry City in the FA Cup semi-final, it was not a surprise. United clutched defeat from the jaws of victory in London two weeks earlier at Chelsea.
United have lost 17 points from winning positions in the league this term and every denying goal has come after the 80th minute apart from Rodrigo Bentancur's 46th-minute equaliser for Tottenham in January. United have lost nine of those points in four of their past six Premier League fixtures.
It cost them in Europe, too. United surrendered one-goal and two two-goal leads to Galatasaray in Manchester and Istanbul and a two-goal and one-goal lead in one evening in Copenhagen. League Two Newport pegged them back from 2-0 down to 2-2 in the FA Cup and Wolves recovered from 3-1 down to make it 3-3 in the 95th minute. Then Mainoo had the golden touch against the Old Gold.
United's second defeat of the campaign in their fourth match at Arsenal set the tone: conceding quickly after scoring, defenders dropping like flies, conceding an added time winner and conceding in quick succession.
Nottingham Forest were 2-0 up at United inside four minutes in the third matchweek of the season. Overall, United have conceded 15 times in quick bursts.
The most damaging were at home and away to Galatasaray and away to Copenhagen. United were seemingly in control in all three ties yet collected one point and finished at the foot of Group A in the Champions League.
Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Newcastle, Bournemouth, West Ham, Aston Villa, Wolves, Liverpool and Coventry also scored twice within a ten-minute period. Only Villa, Liverpool (in the FA Cup) and Coventry failed to win.
Martin Odegaard equalised 35 seconds from the restart after Marcus Rashford's opener at the Emirates Stadium. Bayern ruthlessly kept United at arm's length by scoring within four minutes on two occasions in the second half at the Allianz Arena.
United were ahead for a combined ten minutes against Galatasaray at home, Sheffield United equalised six minutes later, Andre Onana spilt Hakim Ziyech's free-kick with United 3-1 up for only seven minutes and Forest regained their lead within four minutes.
Entering 2024, Tottenham were level inside the first minute of the second half at Old Trafford, Wolves took ten minutes to get back on the scoreboard, Luton notched the third and last goal in the 14th minute of a chaotic contest and Fulham were the Fergie Time winners despite Harry Maguire's 89th-minute leveller.
Since the March internationals, Brentford (three minutes), Bournemouth (five minutes), Sheffield United and Burnley (eight minutes) have punished United at their most vulnerable.
Arsenal, Bayern, Fulham, Brentford and Chelsea have claimed stoppage time goals against United in 2023-24. Palace were the first.
Goals scored in the last 10 minutes of United's 90-minute matches:
Tottenham 2-0 United (Martinez OG 83')
Arsenal 3-1 United (Rice 90+6', Jesus 90+11')
Bayern 4-3 United (Tel 90+2'', Casemiro 88' and 90+5')
United 2-3 Galatasaray (Icardi 81')
United 2-1 Brentford (McTominay 90+3' and 90+7')
United 0-3 City (Foden 80')
Fulham 0-1 United (Fernandes 90+1)
United 3-2 Aston Villa (Hojlund 82')
Nottingham Forest 2-1 United (Gibbs-White 82')
Newport 2-4 United (Hojlund 90+4')
Wolves 3-4 United (Kilman 85', Neto 90+5', Mainoo 90+7')
United 3-0 West Ham (Garnacho 84)
Aston Villa 1-2 United (McTominay 86')
United 1-2 Fulham (Maguire 89, Iwobi 90+7')
Forest 0-1 United (Casemiro 89')
City 3-1 United (Foden 80, Haaland 90+1)
United 4-3 Liverpool (Antony 87')
Brentford 1-1 United (Mount 90+6', Ajer 90+9')
Chelsea 4-3 United (Palmer 90+10', 90+11')
United 2-2 Liverpool (Salah 84')
United 3-3 Coventry (Wright 90+5')
United 4-2 Sheffield United (Fernandes 81', Hojlund 85')
United 1-1 Burnley (Amdouni 87')
Goals conceded within 10 minutes of scoring
Arsenal: one minute
Bayern: four minutes (twice)
Galatasaray (home): six minutes and four minutes
Sheffield United: six minutes
Galatasaray (away): seven minutes
Nottingham Forest: four minutes
Tottenham: six minutes
Wolves: ten minutes
Luton: seven minutes
Fulham: eight minutes
Brentford: three minutes
Bournemouth: five minutes
Sheffield United: eight minutes
Burnley: eight minutes
Goals conceded in quick succession
Forest (two goals within two minutes)
Arsenal (two within five minutes)
Bayern (two within four minutes)
Galatasaray home (two within ten minutes)
Newcastle (two within seven minutes)
Copenhagen (two within four minutes in the first half and two within nine minutes in the second half)
Galatasarayaway (two within nine minutes)
Bournemouth (two within five minutes)
West Ham (two within six minutes)
Villa (two within five minutes)
Wolves (two within ten minutes)
Liverpool (two within three minutes)
Chelsea (two in two minutes)
Coventry (two within eight minutes)
Points lost from winning positions in Premier League and Champions League
Arsenal -3
Tottenham -2
City -3
Brentford -2
Chelsea -3
Liverpool -2
Burnley -2
Galatasaray -3
Copenhagen -3
Galatasaray -2
