Mason Mount played a pivotal role in Manchester United’s win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday. Joshua Zirkzee had equalised nine minutes earlier when United were awarded a free-kick. Bruno Fernandes and Mount stood over the ball, deep in conversation as Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson organised the wall in front him
“I said to him: ‘I will roll it for you’,” said Mount. “He said, ‘No, you stay there’. Then I said, ‘You shoot’ because the sun was difficult today and it was causing a bit of a problem in the first half for us with long balls. I thought it would be difficult for Deano [goalkeeper Henderson] to see the ball in goal. But Bruno said, ‘Stay there’ and then rolled it to me. You could see my reaction was a bit ‘Ah, get on the end of it’.
“It was really quick. That is what helped the situation because they didn’t see it coming. They didn’t see us talking. They were late to react, then it is about finding the little space in the wall. It is a bit of disruption and then it hit the target."
The 63rd-minute goal brought only United’s second away win in 12 matches. It was much needed after last Monday’s home defeat to Everton. It was Palace’s first home defeat since February.
One of the reasons United brought Mount from Chelsea in 2023 was because they felt he had a goal threat from set-pieces.
“I love being in those situations,” said Mount. “You don’t always get that many chances in a game, especially in the Premier League. When that chance is there, it is about taking it and hitting the target and at least making the keeper make a save. We know how much set-pieces are in the game now. For me, it’s about hitting the target. I was buzzing to see it hit the back of the net, to score and most importantly, get the three points for the team."
It was the first time Mount had played 90 minutes in a Premier League match since joining United.
“That is a massive positive for me,” said Mount. “I have been working hard recently and feel good now. To get that 90 minutes under my belt is a positive. I will go into recovery now and go for the next game. For me personally, I am very happy with that.
"I haven’t done [90 minutes in a Premier League game] in a while, but I feel capable of doing that. But whether starting on the bench or starting the game, you must have the same mentality of coming on and having an effect on the game. Can you make an imprint on the game straight away? When you are starting, being ready to play the whole game.”
United were poor in the first half, better in the second. What did the manager say at half-time?
“He was saying keep going and stay calm. We all know what we needed to do in the second half. They just played recently so we felt they could drop off a little bit in the second half. There were chances there for us. It was about carrying on what we were doing. It was difficult to go 1-0 down but we showed character to get back into the game in the second half.”
Ruben Amorim is an admirer of Mount, who appreciates his support after multiple injuries.
“It is important, especially this season,” he said. “I’ve had a few niggles but nothing bad at all. I felt good this season. I had a good pre-season under my belt. I have been working hard in training. As a group we are at it. It has been up and down but as a group we are in a lot better place, me personally but also as a group.
"We really need to kick on now and win more games. That is the most important thing now – win. Difficult result last game [1-0 defeat to Everton] but to come back and win today was massively important. It is time to kick on now and shoot for those top four positions."
United’s next games are at home to West Ham on Thursday and away to Wolves on Monday.
