Crystal Palace sealed a first league double over Manchester United with a rampant 4-0 win at Selhurst Park.

Michael Olise ran 20 yards under no challenge to eventually slot beyond Andre Onana to put Oliver Glasner’s side in the lead after 13 minutes.

Jean-Philippe Mateta surged beyond Johnny Evans to finish emphatically for his sixth goal in a row on home turf.

Tyrick Mitchell tapped in from close range after a fine cross by Adam Wharton in the 58th minute and French youngster Olise capitalised on a Casemiro mistake to power a strike beyond a wanting Onana.

From the first minute, Glasner’s men looked full of intent against a United side who failed to turn up at Selhurst Park.

As a defensive unit, United put in one of the worst performances of the season with Casemiro and Evans becoming their 14th centre back partnership used this campaign.

Eberechi Eze and Olise were given the freedom of the pitch to control the play and caused United trouble on numerous occasions.

Ten Hag’s side threatened in a couple of moments with Casemiro twice having goals ruled out – the first for a foul on Dean Henderson and the second for offside.

Odsonne Edouard almost rubbed further salt in the wounds but his injury-time effort struck the upright.

With title-chasing Arsenal next up, United must greatly improve to avoid another thrashing.

At one stage in the season, Ten Hag’s side looked as though they could put pressure on Aston Villa for a Champions League spot.

That dream is long gone and United are now at risk of missing out on Europe all together for next season.

They must either finish seventh in the Premier League to secure Europa Conference League football or beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final to seal a Europa League place.

One win in seven has seen United slide down the table into eighth and their fixtures do not get any easier with Arsenal visiting Old Trafford on Sunday.

A defeat by this scoreline can be hugely damaging but for those United fans who made the trip to Selhurst Park on a Bank Holiday Monday, it is the manner in which the players seemingly looked disinterested that will hurt the most.

All eyes have been on United’s talented youngster, Kobbie Mainoo, and rightfully so but it is hard to ignore the performances being put in by Wharton since his January move.

Wharton, 20, has impressed since day one at Selhurst Park after his £18m move from Blackburn Rovers on transfer deadline day.

Up against England internationals Mason Mount and Mainoo, Wharton shone with his slick passing between the lines and combativeness in defence.

Positionally, Wharton is excellent. Especially for someone at such a tender age. He has the ability to know exactly where to be on the pitch and when it is best to release the ball for a team-mate.

The former Blackburn man has been a huge addition to a Palace side who have won four of their past five.

A fantastic cross for Joachim Andersen to set up Mitchell’s goal was just a small sample of the quality Wharton brings.

England boss Gareth Southgate was in attendance in London with a preliminary squad for Euro 2024 set to be announced on Tuesday, 21 May and with the Three Lions short of players in the mould of Wharton, a shock inclusion could be on the cards.

The Presidency has replied former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, saying Seyi Tinubu has a right to pursue legitimate business interests in any part of the world.

The Presidency stated this in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga on Monday.

He stated, “Is it not amusing that the former Vice President, a man who openly said he formed Intels Nigeria with an Italian businessman when he was serving in the Nigeria Customs Service, a clear breach of extant public service regulations, is now the one accusing someone else of conflict of interest?

“When he was Vice President of Nigeria between 1999-2007, he maintained his business links with Intels that won major port concession deals.

“As Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation, he approved sales of over 145 State-owned enterprises to his known friends and associates and openly said during his failed campaign for the presidency last year that he would do the same, if elected.”

He said that contrary to Atiku’s claim that the Chagourys own the CDK, the Chairman of the company and its highest shareholder is respected General TY Danjuma (rtd).

He added that the Chagourys are minority shareholders in the company, adding only one member of the clan is on its five-man board.

“It is important to state clearly that Seyi Tinubu is a 38-year-old adult who has a right to do business and pursue his business interests in Nigeria and anywhere in the world within the limits of the law.

“The fact that his father is now the President of Nigeria does not disqualify Seyi from pursuing legitimate business interests.

“For the records, Seyi joined the Board of Directors of CDK in 2018, more than six years ago.

“He is representing the interest of an investor company, in which he has interest. He is not a board member because his father is a friend of the Chagourys.

“Information about owners and shareholders of CDK is a matter of public record that can be openly accessed from the website of the Corporate Affairs Commission and CDK’s.

“Atiku and his proxy did not need a little-known journal to recycle open-source information to make a fallacious argument.

“The Chairman of CDK and the highest shareholder of the company is respected General TY Danjuma (rtd).

“The Chagourys are minority shareholders in the company, and only one member of the clan is on its five-man board.

“We wonder how Seyi’s membership of the board of CDK conflicts with Hitech Construction Company’s work on Lagos-Calabar Coastal superhighway,” the statement read in part.”

Gbenga Oluwafemi, purportedly the landlord and alleged leader of the suspected gang renting out 86 apartments under Dolphin Estate Bridge, Ikoyi, has refuted claims of receiving N250,000 per annum as rent.

Oluwafemi, also known as “Mopol, in a viral video posted by News Central on its X handle late Sunday, stated that there’s no estate chairman in Dolphin Estate who wouldn’t recognise him.

In a telephone conversation with the agency, Mopol said, “No estate chairman in Dolphin Estate that will say he did not know me.

“Even there are some people in power here in Lagos State that live there that know me. They knew us very well.

“The demolished blue container there this morning had been there for about 15 years now.

“The previous government did it for us there. The person who did the container Festus Keyamo was passing by and asked us what we were doing there and our survival.

“We said we are security to the street lights here. He also asked how we cope when it is raining. It was then he promised us that he would look into it and that was when the container was constructed.”

He, however, denied collecting money from anyone as rent contrary to some residents’ claims and the evidence of payments seen.

“I have never refunded any money to anybody. I don’t think I’ve… If I am collecting N250,000 from anybody I will not be in that place again,” he said.

Arrest effort
The Lagos State Government had on Saturday disclosed that it had intensified its efforts to arrest suspected gang leaders who rented out the 86 apartments.

Meanwhile, a resident who simply identified himself as Sola in the five minutes and seventeen seconds video – named one man called “Mopol” as his landlord who collected N250,000 from him.

Another resident, Johnson Kenneth, noted that he had just made a N50,000 deposit before the government moved in.

Also, a December 2022 receipt with “OLUWAFEMI” as the letterhead and phone number, being payment for N150,000 for a room was retrieved from one of the residents.

KAI chief wades in
Earlier in the video, the Commander, Kick Against Indiscipline in Lagos State, Major Olaniyi Olatunbosun Cole (retd.) described the act on the government facility as nothing but a “sabotage.”

“All the sands put under the bridge for a kind of protection were excavated and they started putting structures. It was about 86 rooms.

“You can imagine someone removing sand meant for protection to a facility, a bridge, and erecting a structure there to collect money from the people. That is sabotage,” Cole said.

Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, last Wednesday said the government discovered 86 partitioned rooms, sized 10×10 and 12×10, under the bridge.