Ruben Amorim at Selhurst Park(Image: 2025 Sebastian Frej)
It's December and Manchester United are four points adrift of second in the Premier League table. Every sensible United fan would have snapped your hand off to be in this position at the start of the season.
There have been bumps along the way - the defeats to Grimsby Town, Manchester City and Everton were particularly shocking - but United are in a strong position as they head into the winter.
Crystal Palace felt like a must-win game given the context of the last few weeks. United started November with draws against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham, and then lost to Everton in a lifeless display, so they could not afford to end the month with a defeat at Selhurst Park.
United welcome struggling West Ham to Old Trafford on Thursday night, and the fixture is a superb opportunity to record back-to-back league wins for just the second time this season.
The in-house target for this campaign was to secure a spot in European football. Club sources deliberately did not specify the Champions League, but United must be aiming to return to that competition.
That means winning back-to-back games regularly throughout the campaign. West Ham have won just once on the road this term, and United can't squander such a presentable opportunity.
Matheus Cunha is expected to return to the squad to face West Ham. Cunha suffered a 'minor injury' in training last month, but it was serious enough to keep him out against Everton and Crystal Palace.
Cunha's absence was a blow and the presumption is that he will return to the starting team upon his return, although that would mean one of the goalscorers from last weekend would lose their place.
Amorim stuck by Joshua Zirkzee when most would have dropped him to face Palace. Zirkzee didn't offer much against Everton, but he was given another chance to show what he can do.
That looked like a bad decision in the first half. Zirkzee followed every good touch with a loose touch and wasn't a goal threat, but he popped up quickly following the interval to score a superb goal.
Zirkzee is not a natural goalscorer, yet he found the net like a prolific forward, brilliantly taking the ball down and lashing a volley beyond Dean Henderson, who was guarding the front post.
The finish was so good that it was almost as if a Zirkzee doppelgänger had come out to play the second half. The Dutchman has not been associated with such goals during his up and down time in Manchester.
"It was really important," said [Amorim of Zirkzee's goal](https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/ruben-amorim-praises-two-manchester-32972853). "But again, it was not just the goal, even the runs behind. In the first half he struggled on the duels and he won some duels in the second half.
"We improved a lot because of the quality of Josh in the second half. That is important for him to understand. That is not just the goal. We play better because Josh played better in the second half."
Mason Mount made his first start for United since playing against Liverpool at Anfield, and the midfielder delivered another strong performance, working tirelessly and scoring to make it 2-1.
Bryan Mbeumo, Mount and Zirkzee were the attacking trio and Amorim will have to decide who to drop between the Palace goalscorers if he wants to bring Cunha back into the side.
It's not out of the question that Cunha starts on the bench. He was named on the bench against Chelsea in September after returning from an injury, and Amorim could ease him back into action again.
However, Cunha returned from a muscle injury on that occasion, whereas the reason for his recent absence has been said to be due to a training ground accident, which shouldn't be as serious as a muscle issue.
It will be a tough decision between Mount and Zirkzee if Cunha is immediately recalled. The Dutchman is the favourite to lose his place, but his second-half performance against Palace was impressive, and there is a train of thought that a forward shouldn't lose their place after scoring.
Nonetheless, it's a welcome attacking headache for Amorim ahead of the West Ham game.