A second-half double from Jean-Philippe Mateta earned Crystal Palace victory against Manchester United in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The French striker opened the scoring in the 64th minute when he reacted quickest to prod home from close range after Maxence Lacroix had headed Eberechi Eze's free-kick against the bar.
The second came with one minute of normal time remaining after a quick break ended with Ismaila Sarr slotting a ball through the United defence for Daniel Munoz who unselfishly squared to leave Mateta with a simple tap in.
It was United's fifth home defeat in six Premier League games and in a further blow for beleaguered manager Ruben Amorim, defender Lisandro Martinez was carried off the pitch in agony after suffering what looked like a serious knee injury following an innocuous tangle with Sarr.
Ahead of United's Europa League win over Glasgow Rangers two weeks ago, Amorim admitted that his players were finding it “harder to play at Old Trafford” – and results certainly back up that claim.
Since the beginning of last season, only Wolves (16) have lose more league home games than United's 13.
All in all, it was another disastrous day for United who have yet to win successive league games since Amorim took over in November, and drop down to 13th in the table having been leapfrogged by Palace.
“The result is really bad,” said the Portuguese coach. “The performance was a little bit better than the last games.
“We controlled the transitions quite well for Crystal Palace. We suffered two goals that we can avoid and the injury on Lisandro Martinez was tough for the team.
“We are going to see in the next days but I think it is a serious situation. He is not only a great player but a strong character in the dressing room. He felt it and when you are a player, you know when it is something serious.”
The Eagles, meanwhile, have now collected 16 points on their travels since the beginning of December, more than any other top-flight club.
“I'm feeling fantastic! We won this three points, we worked hard and I am very happy,” said Mateta, who now has 11 goals across all competitions this season.
“We know how they play with the new manager, we worked on a plan during the week and we stuck to the plan. We listened to the gaffer and worked hard and I think we deserve this win.”
“I just put my head down and worked hard and I think sometimes when you do that, you get the reward.”
Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur secured a much-needed three points with a battling 2-0 win at Brentford.
Spurs, who were also on a run of four successive league losses, gained a much-needed three points on a day where captain Son Heung-min played a part in both goals.
The forward's corner led to Vitaly Janelt's 29th-minute own goal before a neat pass set-up Pape Sarr's late strike gave Ange Postecoglou some relief as Spurs moved up to 14th.
“It's always a challenge here, especially at home they're hard to beat. Brilliant effort from the lads, backing up from Thursday night [when Spurs beat Elfsborg in the Europa League], we needed a big effort again today.
“We put that in, they had a lot of set pieces and we dealt with them awfully well. I think we defended as well as we have all season, and we still had the quality to hurt them the other way. Outstanding effort by the players.”
Spurs defender Archie Gray added: “Obviously, it's a massive win. Off the back of another good win before. To break that run, it was difficult, we were in a difficult time. We've still got loads of games to prove that we can carry this winning form on, so it's important.”
