Ruben Amorim reveals Man United are 'stealing' tactics from Premier League rivals - as Reds join Arsenal as most prolific set-piece scorers

Ruben Amorim revealed that Manchester United are ‘stealing’ ideas from their rivals in a bid to score more goals in the Premier League.

United struggled to create chances in the first half, going back into the dressing room with an Expected Goals (xG) from open play of just 0.01.

But leaning on two clever set-piece routines in the second half, United turned things around through Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount.

‘We work a lot (on set pieces),’ the Portuguese explained.

‘We have more time to work. We work a lot and we learn a lot in England.

‘I think you are used to seeing (a lot of set piece goals) but when you come for the Premier League you learn a lot with other teams how to do it and we are stealing a lot of things to score goals.’

Crystal Palace, who played on Thursday night in the Conference League, started well but faded and Amorim could see it coming before the turnaround.

‘I felt that because I had the feeling that if you see the last plays of the game, they were struggling so much to take the ball out of the box and you can feel it the way they move,’ he said.

‘They were getting tired for the second half and we talked about that. And again, our pace in the first half, intensity, we cannot play like that in the Premier League. So we increased that and I had the feeling that if we score one goal, this is going to change completely.’

The momentum of the game changed in United’s favour even after Palace went ahead through Jean-Philippe Mateta’s penalty, largely down to using eight of those who started in Strasbourg on Thursday night.

Palace boss Oliver Glasner was far from happy when all was said and done here, calling on the board to show their ambition in January if they are to remain competitive on all fronts.

‘In January, we need to correct what we missed in the summer to be honest,’ Glasner said bluntly.

‘I want to protect the players because I know how hard they are working and giving everything.

‘I think it's also now time to mention it. It's clearly our fault.

‘We missed to strengthen the depth of the squad in the summer and we knew the schedule. We knew that Ismaila (Sarr) would go to the Afcon but nothing happened.

‘It’s the first time in your history that you play European football, so let's invest instead of saving. We saved and that's what we're facing.’

Asked if he felt let down by the hierarchy, Glasner emphasised his point before heading off.

‘We all would have wished for a little more backing,’ he said.