The less said about Manchester United’s Saturday afternoon, the better.

The Red Devils crashed to their first defeat of the season and a first-ever home defeat to Crystal Palace.

It was a nightmare day at the Theatre of Dreams as United struggled to impose themselves on the clash.

Jordan Ayew ghosted in behind the United defence and slid the ball home in the first half as Palace went into the break with an unexpected lead.

United pushed hard for an equaliser in the second stanza and it finally came in the form of a sublime Daniel James curler.

After Marcus Rashford had earlier hammered a penalty off the upright, the Welsh youngster looked to have rescued a point for United in the dying stages.

However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team somehow conspired to lose the lot.

In stoppage time, Patrick Van Aanholt shot from an angle and squeezed it past a despairing David Dea Gea.

After just three games, United are five points off the top - and will know they are in for a real battle to force their way back into that top four.

It has been a difficult few months for United, who have really struggled since that initial purple patch in the aftermath of the Solskjaer’s takeover from Jose Mourinho.

In fact, since that famous comeback win over Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League, United have been frightfully poor.

According to a statistic doing the rounds on social media, United have won a grand total of three games out of 15 since that memorable night in the French capital.

Ouch.

Their season ended in a whimper and, after a roaring start to the season this time out, that similar bitter taste is returning to the mouths of the Old Trafford faithful.

There have been plenty of positives though.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka looks some player, James is settling into the Premier League brilliantly and Harry Maguire can only get better.

They are still a very good side and you can be certain they will right the ship soon.