Manchester United made a winning start to life under interim boss Ralf Rangnick thanks to Fred’s 77th-minute winner.
A more energetic United display looked like going unrewarded against a dogged Crystal Palace outfit until Fred struck first-time from Mason Greenwood’s lay-off to send a superb 20-yard effort curling over Vicente Guaita and into the top corner.
It was only Fred’s second goal of the season – and the first time since the middle of September that United have recorded back-to-back league wins.
Until the Brazilian’s effort, Rangnick’s side created numerous decent chances, without really looking as though they were going to score and Guaita would probably have saved an Alex Telles free-kick that skimmed the bar had it been on target.
Indeed Palace, who were looking to win for a third successive season at Old Trafford, came close themselves when Jordan Ayew turned James Tomkins header across the face of goal and narrowly wide of the far post.
The victory meant that Rangnick emulated three of United’s other four new managers since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 by winning his first match at the helm, with Louis van Gaal the only man to fail.
Fred The Enigma Turns Match-Winner
However, Fred was one of the major focuses for criticism during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign as manager, which ended last month.
As Michael Carrick pointed out during his three-match spell as United’s caretaker manager, the midfielder is a mainstay of a Brazil team that dominated World Cup qualification in South America.
Yet he has never given any indication, through either goalscoring or chance creation, that he is worthy of the £47m United paid for him.
He is industrious, though. And, judging by his little dance after the celebrations of his goal broke up, he is not without personality, which may be helpful to Rangnick over the coming months.
The German has not had a full training session with his players yet but there was certainly an intensity about United’s early pressing, with Cristiano Ronaldo among those doing it on a couple of occasions.
It did harry Palace into a couple of mistakes – but then, as happened so many times under Solskjaer, before, the game settled down, the fire went out of the hosts and they started to rely more on crosses and individual moments to cause the visitors problems.
Marc Guehi managed to block a Ronaldo volley at close-range after the Portuguese had beaten the Palace offside trap and Tomkins headed a curling Fred shot away from danger.
Probably the hosts’ best opportunity in the opening period fell to Bruno Fernandes, who didn’t hit his shot cleanly but still forced a low full-length save out of Guaita after Ronaldo had set up the chance with an elaborate header.
United did not reach the same heights after the interval, although the introductions of Greenwood and Anthony Elanga at least kept them pushing forward until the decisive moment came.
