Crystal Palace vs. Manchester United: Score, Reaction from 2016 Premier League

As he has done many times in his career, Zlatan Ibrahimovic came through when it was needed the most.

The former Sweden international scored in the 88th minute to give Manchester United a hard-fought 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

Ibrahimovic helped the Red Devils take the initial lead on a controversial assist to Paul Pogba just before halftime. The midfielder returned the favor late in the second half, earning an assist on the forward's game-winner.

Hesham Bilal-Hafiz of the Manchester Evening News provided his thoughts on Pogba's play:

Crystal Palace evened the match in the second half when James McArthur scored off a pretty pass from Damien Delaney, but the hard-luck squad was unable to hold on for any points in the match.

Manchester United extended its unbeaten streak to seven Premier League matches, including wins in the last two. Crystal Palace suffered its first loss in three matches, again putting the club in danger of falling near the relegation zone.

Neither side was able to get much going at the start of the match, with few periods of sustained possession or shots on goal.

The first real opportunity came in the 37th minute when Manchester United got its first shot on goal. Wayne Rooney had a chance to give his club the lead but was stopped by goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, as Crystal Palace's official Twitter account described:

United were finally able to get on to the scoresheet on a questionable play just before the end of the half.

After earning a free kick in stoppage time, Juan Mata sent the ball into the box, which went off Ibrahimovic before Pogba buried it into the back of the net. 

As Phil McNulty of BBC Sport noted, there were a few suspicious parts of the goal:

Combining that with a questionable tackle by Marcos Rojo that could have been worth a red card, the home fans were not happy at the end of the first half. In any case, it was enough to give the visitors a 1-0 lead heading into the break.

The second half featured much of the same, with neither side making much of an impact in the final third. Crystal Palace earned its first good opportunity in the 62nd minute with a drive from McArthur, but David De Gea was there for the stop.

All of a sudden, the home team showed some life and began to showcase excellent passing, which eventually led to the equalizer in the 66th minute, as Joe Prince-Wright of NBC Sports described:

McArthur's second shot on goal was easier, after Delaney set him up perfectly in the box.

As the match seemed destined to end in a draw, Ibrahimovic came through in the clutch, chipping the ball over Hennessey to give Manchester United a 2-1 lead.

Former Old Trafford forward Andy Cole was impressed by the score:

United deserved the win, with over 61 percent of the possession and 10 more shots taken, but it wasn't until the final moments that they came away with the three points.

Both sides have a quick turnaround before their next matches.

Manchester United will stay on the road Saturday to take on West Bromwich Albion, while Crystal Palace will host first-place Chelsea.

Post-Match Reaction

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew wasn't happy with the officiating in the match, especially calling out the lack of an offside call on the first goal, per the team's account.

"We need a break, or couple of refereeing decisions to go our way," he said, per Gary Taphouse of Sky Sports.

Meanwhile, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes the calls didn't make a difference.

"We were the best team," Mourinho said, per Naveen Ullal of the International Business Times. "We deserved it. We had control. In the last 20 mins we were super dominant."

The Ibrahimovic goal eventually provided the result he expected.

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