Looking at Crystal Palace’s clash with Manchester United prior to kick-off last night, not many observers would have predicted the thrilling encounter that followed.

Two teams who are primarily set up to defend produced a five-goal thriller as United recovered from a 2-0 deficit to snatch victory in stoppage time thanks to Nemanja Matic’s late stunner.

Andros Townsend’s early strike opened the game up and from then on, Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho looked fraught on the touchline, caught up in a match that was now emotional and end-to-end – a far cry from the borefest many might have envisaged pre-match.

That only intensified as the game wore on and as his team went in search of a winner, Mourinho’s emotions briefly got the better of him as he kicked a bottle in the technical area, sending it flying into a section of the home fans.

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The former Real Madrid manager has already faced censure this season for encroaching onto the touchline at St Mary’s and was keen to play down the incident speaking after the match to Sky Sports.

As reported by the Metro, he said:

“It was empty and it’s one thing when it is with the referee and another thing if it is the basic frustration of the game without any kind of aggression.

“It was good fun with the people behind. Maybe they like me here because I keep saying that this stadium and these fans are absolutely beautiful.”

Mourinho was clearly agitated at times last night, not least when Patrick van Aanholt caught his defence napping to net the second Palace goal but will have ended the night satisfied that he team went back above Liverpool and into second.

Doing just that was vitally important with Saturday’s crunch clash between United and the Reds looming large.