Mount's fast reactions key to Man Utd winner

Mason Mount has admitted he was caught by surprise when Bruno Fernandes played the pass that led to Manchester United's winner at Crystal Palace.

The pair were stood over a free-kick on the edge of the Palace box at Selhurst Park. Mount offered a couple of suggestions but Fernandes took the initiative and tapped it to him. Fortunately, Mount reacted quickly enough to drill a low shot past Dean Henderson as United beat Palace in an away game for the first time since 2020.

"I said to him: 'I will roll it for you'. He said: 'No, you stay there'," recounted Mount.

"Then I said: 'You shoot' because the sun was causing a bit of a problem and I thought it would be difficult for Deano to see the ball. But he said: 'Stay there' and then rolled it to me. You could see my reaction was a bit: 'Ah, get on the end of it'."

It was a perfect way for Mount to cap his first 90-minute appearance in the Premier League for United. The 26-year-old had to be told his previous full game also came against Palace, for Chelsea.

"Was it? It felt like a long time," he said. "That is a massive positive for me. I feel really good now."

Prior to this season, injuries have prevented Mount from building the momentum that persuaded United to pay Chelsea £55m for him in June 2023.

In the space of just over a year to March, Mount had two major issues that ruled him out for three months and in between, a hamstring injury that kept him out for another three weeks.

This term, that has changed. So far, he has only been unavailable for one of United's 13 league games - and been involved in all but three.

Through his period of frustration, Mount refused to let his head drop.

He opted against committing to any external requests, mindful of how it would look and how perceptions around him might be shaped. 'I want to let my football do the talking' was his private mantra.

In addition, he remained positive around his rehabilitation by reminding himself he had been playing football at a high level - relative to his age - since he was six. The two decades from there were built on good training habits he told himself would be part of the reason why he would come through the troubles he was experiencing.

Now, he is aiming for more minutes and is keen to play a central role in driving United towards a top-four finish.

"I have had a few niggles but nothing bad, had a good pre-season and been working hard in training," he said.

"It [the season] has been up and down as a group. We really need to kick on now and shoot for those top-four positions."