Arsenal legend Ian Wright immediately broke down what went wrong for Leny Yoro in Maxence Lacroix’s first-half opener against Manchester United in the Crystal Palace match.
Oliver Glasner’s men visited Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon and Crystal Palace stunned Manchester United in the opening five minutes of the Premier League tie.
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Manchester United's Portuguese midfielder #08 Bruno Fernandes (L) congratulates Manchester United's Slovenian striker #30 Benjamin Sesko
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Brennan Johnson floated in a corner from an early Palace set-piece and Maxence Lacroix connected with a quality header to put the ball in the back of the net.
Leny Yoro was tasked with marking Lacroix and the 20-year-old Frenchman switched off, which allowed Palace to capitalise on their chance against United in the first half.
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Leny Yoro speaks with Michael Carrick during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester United at the London Stadium in 2026 in London, England.
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Ian Wright’s verdict on Leny Yoro’s Man Utd defending after Maxence Lacroix’s header from a Crystal Palace corner
Leny Yoro has been back in the Red Devils starting XI under Michael Carrick since key defender Lisandro Martinez picked up a calf injury during training last month.
The French centre-back played the full 90 minutes of Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Everton on Monday evening before playing again against Crystal Palace.
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Speaking during the half-time break in Sunday’s clash, Ian Wright insisted that Yoro’s biggest mistake against Maxence Lacroix was that he wasn’t looking at him.
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“I thought [Man Utd] were going to start a lot quicker than they have,” he said, as per the Premier League’s official website.
“The ball’s in the air for so much time. That’s a really good header. Yoro’s not even looking.
“It was in the air long enough for a Man Utd player to go and attack it. Lacroix’s done really well to direct it in there.”
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Leny Yoro’s error against Crystal Palace did not come back to haunt the Man Utd defender
Lacroix was the man of the moment in the first half for Crystal Palace, but he went from hero to zero in the second half after he was sent off at Old Trafford.
The 25-year-old centre-back brought Matheus Cunha down and the Red Devils were handed a penalty, with a VAR intervention leading to Lacroix’s red card as well.
Bruno Fernandes cancelled out Lacroix’s first-half opener after sending Dean Henderson the wrong way from the spot-kick in the 57th minute on Sunday.
The 31-year-old Man Utd captain subsequently picked up an assist in the 65th minute after he picked out Benjamin Sesko for the Red Devils’ second on the day.
Yoro completed his second consecutive 90 minutes of Premier League action under United legend Michael Carrick after the 2-1 result against Palace at Old Trafford.
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