Van De Beek debut goal not enough as Man Utd lose to Crystal Palace

David De Gea saved a penalty only to see it retaken as Manchester United fell to a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener.

The Spaniard had been chosen in goal ahead of Dean Henderson despite the Englishman returning from a loan spell at Sheffield United to put pressure on him.

De Gea could have had the headlines for his save, but an infringement meant it did not stand. It capped off a forgettable first game of the season for United.

Things did not get off to a good start for United, when Andros Townsend tapped home at the far post to give Palace the lead after just seven minutes.

United failed to equalise before half-time, and things went from bad to worse in the second half when Palace were awarded a penalty for a Victor Lindelof handball after a VAR intervention.

However, Jordan Ayew’s effort from the spot was incredibly weak, making it an easy save for De Gea.

But VAR intervened again to order a re-take after De Gea was found to be off his line. This time, Wilfried Zaha took it – and scored against his former club.

Dream day for Zaha

By this point, Donny Van De Beek had come on for his Premier League debut, replacing Paul Pogba. And the former Ajax midfielder soon made an impact, scoring to reduce the deficit.

But Palace soon regained their two-goal advantage. Zaha scored his second goal, this time from open play, to make it 3-1.

It capped off a dream day for the former United winger, who was wearing the Palace captain’s armband for the first time.

Conversely, it was a miserable afternoon for United, who have not got off to the start they would have wanted.