Manchester United concluded their preseason tour of Asia and Australia with a win over fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace.
Palace were faced with a stern test in their first of two games in Australia, while United make it a perfect 3 wins from 3 games against Liverpool, Melbourne Victory and Palace. Missing senior players Wilfried Zaha, Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze, they faced a strong United side that is without Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo but saw David De Gea return in goal after being rested against the Victory.
The 76,499 strong crowd were in favour of the Manchester side but Palace had more than a few thousand supporters in attendance as well, making themselves heard at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Martial showed United's early intent to attack with the first chance of the game inside the first minute, but sent his shot sky high.
A glorious through ball from Fred saw Martial break the line of Palace's defence but sent his shot straight into the outstretched palm of Jack Butland.
With the Premier League start less than 3 weeks out, Vieira opted to replace Butland with Remi Matthews in the 14th minute after sustaining an injury following that shot from Martial.
After the restart, United were quick to claim the advantage in the 18th minute. A sumptuous, lofted ball from Dalot found Martial inside the penalty area, and his composure was on show as he slotted it past Matthews for the early advantage.
Malcolm Ebiowei was desperate to answer back with a beautifully worked shot at De Gea's near post thwarted by the United gloveman.
Palace might not have seen a lot of ball control inside the first half, but any chance at a counterattack was taken to full advantage. A beautiful ball from Ebiowei found Rak-Sakyi inside the box, who created enough space to get a shot deflected off Harry Maguire in the 27th.
Chances exchanged at either ends from Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Marcus Rashford caused worrying signs for either side, but both strikes did little to faze the goalkeepers.
Martial nearly doubled United's lead in the 38th minute, Rashford gave Palace a warning with a glorious cross inside the 6-yard box but Martial wasn't able to get on the end of it in time.
United sustained their presence inside their attacking half through the likes of Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho, and crowd favourite Harry Maguire was mere inches away from a close-range effort.
United's continued assault on Palace's goal saw Killian Phillips with the first booking of the game by bringing down Scott McTominay.
The second half began with United's dominance of possession once again. The sole substitution saw McTominay come off in favour of Donny van der Beek.
United came out of the gates with a gloriously worked team goal. Sancho's through ball found van der Beek who played a one-two with Martial before squaring it up for Rashford into an open net. A sublime show of team play from United had them well and truly in control.
Martial continued United's brilliant form of the half. A dribble on the left side of the penalty box was squared through the legs of Fernandes for van der Beek's first shot of the game.
Second yellow card of the game sparked some afters between the players. A challenge from Jordan Ayew left Bruno Fernandes on the dock. Fred came to the defence of Fernandes and some shoves were thrown, but not enough to warrant any more cards.
Palace's first real chance of the game came in the 59th minute as Ayew and Mateta combined to leave United's defenders in their wake. De Gea was more than up for the task as Mateta's shot lacked the power to trouble the United keeper.
United's advantage became 3-0 in the 60th minute. The pass from Rashford was played brilliantly by Martial to give acres of real estate for Jadon Sancho. He curled his shot around Matthews as the crowd celebrated wildly.
As shades of United's previous two games took shape, Palace would not go down without a fight. Mateta found the back of the net in the 64th minute but was clearly offside, and whatever glimmer of hope Palace had was snuffed by the linesman's flag.
After both sides brought on their benches, Palace carried the slight advantage in experience and it paid dividends. A near shot resulting in a corner brought their first goal through Joel Ward in the 74th. A sublime header from the set piece found the bottom corner and breathed life back into Palace's game.
United substitute Will Fish endured an early end to his game. Bringing down Victor Akinwale on the outside of the box left no decision for referee Alex King, referring straight to the red card and leaving United with 10 men for the final few minutes.
United made it 3 wins from 3 games and Erik ten Hag's system was well and truly on show for their game against the Eagles. Palace manager Patrick Vieira lamented his squad's lack of depth but will be pleased with some signs particularly from his attackers.
Palace will enjoy a few days' rest before travelling to Perth for their final game against Leeds United. That game will kick off at 8pm on Friday AEST.
Tomorrow night will see Aston Villa take on A League side Brisbane Roar, and Manchester United will face the Villains in Perth on Saturday 7:45pm AEST.
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