Ruben Amorim on the touchline at Selhurst Park.(Image: Warren Little/Getty Images)
Ruben Amorim joked Manchester United have improved their set-piece record by "stealing" ideas from rivals in the [Premier League](https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/all-about/premier-league), following a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday. Jean-Philippe Mateta opened the scoring from the spot in the 32nd minute. United were awful in the first half and the hosts thoroughly deserved their one-goal advantage at the interval.
United looked like a different team when play resumed. Joshua Zirkzee equalised, firing his half-volley beyond Dean Henderson, and Mason Mount made it 2-1 from another set-piece routine.
The Reds are now level with Arsenal with the joint-most set-piece goals in the top flight this season, having scored 10 goals from set-play scenarios just 13 games into the campaign.
Amorim was asked whether United had put more work into set-pieces during training, and he said: "No, we work a lot. We have more time to work, we work a lot and we learn a lot in England.
"I think you are used to seeing that, but when you come for the Premier League you learn a lot with other teams how to do it and we are stealing a lot of things to score goals. "
Amorim discussed what he said to the players at half-time, saying: "It's just to understand for everyone to understand the game. I felt in the last ten minutes of the first half, I felt that the opponent was struggling and they would struggle in the second half. We had that feeling that we needed to do something to change the way we were playing.
"And it was that, of course. We tried to change little things in the game. But the intensity and the quality in the way we connect, especially Josh in our connection, was better and that improves a lot the way we play."
When asked whether he believed United could turn the game around, he said: "I felt that because I had the feeling that 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.
"They were getting tired for the second half and 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 that if we score one goal this is going to change completely.
"I really like also the way we controlled the game with the ball, winning the game. So we were in front but we were not afraid of trying to score the next one and to control the ball in their half."
Amorim believes the lack of intensity in the first half was due to 'small details'. "Sometimes it's a lot of things," he added. "Sometimes you don't need to move but the pace of the ball can be better.
"You need to understand that Mateta was the man that had the time to think and if you see in the second half, sometimes it was him that starts the play. All these small details I think we improved. And when you have one play, two plays, the rhythm flows better and you increase everything mentally and physically."