Mason Mount challenges Man Utd to aim for Champions League after Palace comeback

Mason Mount has challenged Manchester United to kick on from Sunday’s battling 2-1 Premier League victory at Crystal Palace and qualify for the Champions League this season.

United bounce back from an abject home loss to 10-man Everton with a comeback triumph in south London after second-half goals by Joshua Zirkzee and Mount.

This result made it four wins in seven matches under Ruben Amorim and seventh-placed United are only four points off rivals Manchester City ahead of a busy December of domestic action.

“I’ve felt good all season. I had a good pre-season under my belt, I’ve been working hard in training every week and not just me, but as a group we’ve been at it,” Mount said after two injury-hit campaigns at Old Trafford.

“It’s been up and down but we’re in a lot better place (both), me personally and us as a group. We really need to kick on now and win more games.

“That’s the most important thing, to win. Obviously a difficult result in the last game, but to come back and win was massively important. It’s time to really kick on now and shoot for that top-four position.”

United looked anything but a European outfit at half-time on Sunday after a one-sided first half where Palace held a one-goal advantage through Jean-Philippe Mateta’s 36th-minute penalty.

After Palace squandered a number of promising openings, Amorim’s team returned with improved intent for the second period and a fine goal by Zirkzee in the 54th minute was followed nine minutes later by Mount’s smart finish.

Mount remained on the pitch during the final exchanges to complete 90 minutes in the Premier League for the first time since a 1-0 win over Palace – for Chelsea – at the start of 2023.

He added: “It felt like a long time! That is a massive positive for me as well and I’ve been working hard recently. I feel really good as well.

“I mean, I haven’t done it in a while but I feel definitely, recently I have been capable to do that, but whether I am starting on the bench or starting in the game, you have to have the same mentality of affecting the game.”

Amorim’s half-time message had been to “stay calm” according to Mount, with a big emphasis on the likelihood that fatigue would set in for Palace after Thursday’s Conference League fixture at Strasbourg.

It paid off as – after Zirkzee’s equaliser – Mount grabbed his second goal of the campaign with a curled effort after Bruno Fernandes’ quick free-kick to boost momentum before Thursday’s visit of West Ham.

“(Amorim) was saying keep going. Stay calm and we know what we need to do. We all know what we needed to do in that second half,” Mount added.

“Obviously difficult to go down one nil but it showed character to get back in it.

“I was very buzzing to see it hit the back of the net, to score and most importantly get the three points for the team.”