Mason Mount saved Manchester United from a further inquest when he fired home in a 2-1 comeback victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
The midfielder rifled in from a well-worked set-piece after being teed up by Bruno Fernandes.
That goal, Mount's second of the season, came minutes after Joshua Zirkzee ended a year-long wait for a Premier League goal with a finish from what looked like an impossible angle.
With a combined xG of 0.05, United completed a second-half turnaround in a game that, before the halftime whistle, offered very little hope for Ruben Amorim's side. The Portuguese boss was critical of their display in the early exchanges in his post-match, saying his side "cannot play like that in the Premier League".
United were outclassed and outfought by Palace in the opening 45 minutes despite showing early promise when Dean Henderson denied Casemiro an early goal with a smart stop. Amorim watched on as his side generated just 0.01 expected goals without set-pieces.
In a run of play that summed up United's sorry showing, Leny Yoro clumsily brought down Jean-Philippe Mateta in the area to give away a sure penalty.
Having initially sent Senne Lammens the wrong way, Mateta had to do the same again after being adjudged to have touched the ball twice by VAR.
More chances followed for Palace in the first half with Matthijs de Ligt and Luke Shaw called upon to make huge interventions to prevent further damage.
Amorim could be seen anxiously pacing in the mixed zone during the half-time break, taking a moment before what would have been his most significant talk to his players, hoping to avoid a repeat of Monday's hopeless showing against the 10 men of Everton.
Whatever he said worked, helping United end a run of three without a win to move up to sixth, above Palace who are denied a place in the top four. Amorim also becomes the first United boss to win at Selhurst Park since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2020.
Manchester United must figure out a way to overcome their Jekyll and Hyde complex. Ruben Amorim's side were nowhere near it in the first half at Crystal Palace.
They lacked energy, belief and any ideas as they were under the pump at Selhurt Park. But then a moment of magic from Joshua Zirkzee changed it all.
Across the season, United's starts have been fairly positive and where United have typically found their joy.
However, they have failed to sustain their early displays. In recent performances, United have been far more effective in the second half; their problem, though, is their slow starts.
The defensive numbers are where the difference is stark. Across United's first 11 games this season, in the first half, they had an expected goals against of 5.71. This changed in the second half where that number nearly doubled to 11.07.
However, in their last two games, at Palace and in defeat to Everton, United have a first-half expected goals against of 1.26, while after the break, this number massively decreases to 0.26.
It's important to note that in both games United fell behind in the first half, therefore were naturally more attack-minded in the second period.
However, there's a clue in the numbers that Amorim's team are a different side when they go ahead early, like they did eight times in their first 11 league games, compared to when they concede early on.
Perhaps there are signs of complacency in their leads that Amorim has to fix while also finding a way to motivate faster starts.
Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim:
"It [Joshua Zirkzee's goal] was really important.
"But again, it was not just the goal, even the runs behind. In the first half, he struggled in the duels, and he won some duels in the second half.
"And we improved a lot because of the quality of Josh in the second half. And that is important for him to understand. That is not just the goal. We played better because Josh played better in the second half.
"I just said to the players [at half time] we need to be more alive, and you can feel that. So if you are more alive, you are in more places, you are near the ball more often and I think everyone did that.
"But we also need to understand that the opponent was tired in the second half. And when you increase the rhythm and the opponent gets tired a little bit, suffers a goal right away, you feel that we had the control of the game and that's it."
Asked whether he felt his side would come back, Amorim said:
"I felt that because I had the feeling, if you see the last plays of the game, they were struggling so much to take the ball out of the box.
"And you can feel it, the way they move, that they were getting tired for the second half.
"We talked about that and again, our pace in the first half, intensity, we cannot play like that in the Premier League.
"So we increased that and I had the feeling, we had the feeling that if we score one goal, this is going to change completely."
Analysis by SportNews' Dan Long at Selhurst Park:
"Ismaila Sarr has been, by far and away, one of Crystal Palace's standout players since he arrived at the club from Marseille in August 2024. The numbers speak for themselves: 66 appearances, 20 goals, 10 assists.
"But he may well have played his last game of the year for Oliver Glasner's side.
"The Senegal forward went down under a challenge from Luke Shaw inside the first four minutes at Selhurst Park and made a motion with his hand as if to suggest he had twisted his ankle. He lasted just over half an hour more, before being replaced by Eddie Nketiah.
"Asked about Sarr's condition in his post-match press conference, Glasner said: "The ankle is quite swollen, so I think he will miss a few games, maybe the whole time until he goes to AFCON."
"Senegal start their AFCON campaign on December 23, when they face Botswana in Tangier, Morocco. If Pape Thiaw's side make it as far as the final, Sarr would not return to domestic action until late January or early February.
"Glasner has already made it clear Palace must strengthen in January, with an attacker at the top of his shopping list - and now it appears to be even more imperative than before."
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner:
"What disappointed me? Almost everything.
"Conceding two goals from set-plays, three of the last four goals being conceded from set-plays. That makes it really frustrating, because I think we played a very good first half, and deserved to have the lead.
"I can't remember a big chance from open play in the whole game.
"We are not fresh enough in many games and the energy level dropped, but I think we made it just harder for us because we conceded these two goals.
"In the situation we are in now, it looked like it was tough, but I think, at the end, we tried everything.
"We had a few set-plays as well, an even better situation, the free-kick. But we missed it, they took it, and so that's why we lost it."
