Sesko streak continues as Manchester United fight off 10-man Crystal Palace

As the second half began, a banner appeared in the Stretford End that read: “MUFC proudly colonised by immigrants.” If this was a riposte to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s assertion that these shores have been overrun by those from overseas (for which the co-owner half-heartedly apologised), Manchester United needed their own reply to a listless opening period that left them trailing to Maxence Lacroix’s early header.

Eleven minutes after the restart, they did. First came Lacroix’s sending-off, issued by Chris Kavanagh after a pitchside monitor review for yanking over Matheus Cunha. The contact started before the 18-yard line but it continued into the penalty area, so the referee followed up awarding a spot-kick by showing his red card. Fernandes calmly beat Dean Henderson to the left of the Crystal Palace No 1, who guessed wrong.