Bruno Fernandes's goal and assist in Man United's comeback win over Crystal Palace was further evidence that their willingness to sell him last summer was an act of lunacy, writes CHRIS WHEELER

Michael Carrick has done so much right since he became Manchester United 's head coach, but even he needs the breaks to go his way every now and then.

United were trailing to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford and in need of the inspiration that was starting to come from their irrepressible captain Bruno Fernandes when this game turned on its head eight minutes into the second half.

Fernandes slipped a pass through for Matheus Cunha who turned Maxence Lacroix and raced towards goal. The Palace scorer instinctively grabbed Cunha by his right shoulder and he stayed on his feet just long enough to ensure he went down in the box.

Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot, but the referee taking charge of his first game since being heavily criticised and dropped for his performance in Aston Villa 's FA Cup tie against Newcastle a fortnight ago needed help from Stockley Park on this one.

Was it a foul? Did the contact start outside the box? Was Lacroix the last man? VAR official Tony Harrington called Kavanagh to the pitch-side monitor and the decision was a penalty and a red card.

Where would Manchester United be without Bruno Fernandes? He was pivotal again on Sunday

The double punishment seemed rather harsh but Fernandes stepped up to send former United goalkeeper Dean Henderson the wrong way from the spot and suddenly Palace had lost their advantage and were down to 10 men.

Eight minutes later, the United skipper crossed for Benjamin Sesko to mark his first start under Carrick with his seventh goal in eight games, and United were heading for another win under their new boss and third place in the Premier League.

Where would they be without Fernandes? The Portuguese has admitted that he was 'hurt' that the club were prepared to sell him to Al-Hilal last summer, and now more than ever it seems like an act of lunacy.

He has now scored and assisted in 18 different Premier League games for United, taking him past David Beckham with only Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney to beat. If United seize their opportunity to qualify for the Champions League, no player will have come close to guiding them there as Fernandes.

And what about Sesko? The Slovenian is flying after an uncertain start at United. After his winning goal, at Everton on Monday, he was the only change in Carrick's line-up as he came in for Amad Diallo and left to a standing ovation when he was replaced by the Ivorian in the 75th minute.

'I think Ben has been in a good spot and a good feeling for a number of weeks,' said Carrick beforehand. 'It's building that belief and confidence. I'm looking forward to seeing him today and Amad is a good option for us to finish the game.'

Oliver Glasner also made one change to the Palace line-up as Brennan Johnson came in for Evann Guessand even though the Ivory Coast international signed on loan from Aston Villa last month had scored late goals in their back-to-back wins against Wolves and then Zrinjski Mostar in the Europa Conference over the last week.

'He hasn't played so many minutes before he arrived and two games within three days,' said Glasner. 'I expect an intense game today and a lot of running, so I'm giving him a rest. Brennan did very well in training and I think the game could suit him.'

Fernandes got United back into the game from penalty spot after being 1-0 down at half-time

Even though Palace had been in European action only three days earlier, they started more brightly and went ahead in the fifth minute when Johnson – who scored the decisive goal for Spurs to beat United in the Europa League final in Bilbao in May – set up a goal for Lacroix, Palace's other scorer against Zrinjski.

It owed much to the naivety of Leny Yoro who lost track of Lacroix in the penalty box when Johnson crossed from the left, and the Frenchman guided a header inside the far post with Senne Lammens partially unsighted.

It was symptomatic of a slow start by United as they struggled to match Palace's energy despite having three more days to prepare, with Ismaila Sarr a real handful.

Carrick's side suffered another setback midway through the half when Luke Shaw sank to the turf after struggling since he was caught on the left foot by Daniel Munoz's studs, and had to be replaced by Noussair Mazraoui.

It took United fully half an hour to wake up and muster their first effort on goal when Harry Maguire met Bryan Mbeumo's corner from the right. The connection was clean enough but the ball was heading for Henderson before Adam Wharton cut it out.

Jaydee Canvot got a block on Sesko's first-time shot after Mbeumo had nodded down from Mazraoui's cross, and the £73.7million striker then headed tamely at Henderson from Fernandes' cross.

United's two best chances arrived at the end of the first half. First Henderson tipped over brilliantly from Fernandes' free kick after Daichi Kamada had fouled Mbeumo 25 yards out. The Japan international then fouled Fernandes and he guided the ball onto the head of Casemiro who should have done better than steer it wide from close range. It was the kind of opportunity the Brazilian usually takes.

Carrick, so calm and composed in his overcoat on the touchline, ran down the tunnel with the look of a man who knew he had work to do at half-time.

Who knows what he said at half-time, but United emerged for the second half with greater intensity and the penalty incident changed the course of the game. Having despatched his seventh goal of the season from the spot, Fernandes turned creator in the 65th minute.

The United skipper threaded a ball through for Cunha but Canvot cleared towards the touchline. It landed back with Fernandes who sized up a cross and curled it perfectly onto the head of Sesko who rose above Canvot to beat Henderson.

It could have been three shortly afterwards but the Palace keeper produced an excellent reflex save to keep out Casemiro's first-time effort from Mbeumo's cross.

No matter. United had their sixth win in seven unbeaten games under Carrick and Champions League qualification is now firmly in their grasp.