BREAKING NEWS: “Yeah, I got the opener, but he’s the one who truly changed the game. He should be the Man of the Match.” That’s straight from Joshua Zirkzee, who says that even though he scored the winner, the real praise belongs to the Manchester United midfielder who posted a ridiculous 97% pass accuracy and basically delivered a flawless performance against Crystal Palace. He was an absolute monster out there

Zirkzee might have found the net, but he insisted someone else truly ran the show at Selhurst Park. United came in tense, desperate for a response, and while his goal sealed the victory, he wasted no time pushing the spotlight away from himself. Reporters expected him to hype his finish, but he brushed it aside like it was nothing, shifting all the praise to the teammate who quietly dominated Crystal Palace from the center of the pitch.

 

He admitted the strike mattered, sure, but he said the real impact came from the midfielder who barely misplaced a pass all game. This wasn’t some safe, timid display either — the guy carved through Palace’s lines, controlled the game’s tempo, and protected the backline whenever the pressure rose. With every touch, he kept United stable, steady, and in charge, even when things threatened to spiral.

 

Fans in the stadium felt it, Palace players chased shadows, and his teammates trusted him like a lifeline. Zirkzee made it clear: the victory might have needed a goal to seal it, but the performance belonged to the one who treated midfield like his personal laboratory. His pass accuracy — nearly flawless — was the backbone of United’s entire plan.

 

Inside the dressing room, teammates reportedly gave him his flowers. Calm, tidy, ruthless in the details — he showed the kind of leadership United have been desperate to see. And Zirkzee’s willingness to redirect all praise toward him shows a squad starting to look more unified, more connected, more mature than in recent months.

 

United needed this kind of tactical authority, someone to grab a scrappy game and reshape it with pure composure. That midfielder did exactly that, turning what should’ve been a frantic away fixture into a lesson in control. Zirkzee’s goal may be the moment clipped for the highlights, but the real blueprint of the win came from the man dictating everything in the middle.

 

In the end, the night belonged to the one who hit 97% perfection — the quiet mastermind who shaped the match so completely that even the goal scorer stepped aside and applauded. A massive statement, a massive performance, and a huge step forward for Manchester United.