Erik ten Hag never makes it easy for himself. The Manchester United manager praised Marcus Rashford’s improved attitude but left him on the bench and then watched as his replacement Alejandro Garnacho failed to find a way past the outstanding Dean Henderson, who played enthusiastically against his former club.

By the time Rashford entered the field in the second half, a strangely unbalanced Crystal Palace had finally woken up and United needed a brilliant double save from André Onana to avoid a second consecutive defeat to Oliver Glasner’s team.

At least this was a much improved performance on the 4-0 debacle in May, which was one of the low points of last season under Ten Hag, with United’s defence also holding up under late pressure.

After praising Rashford for his three goals in his last two appearances, it was surprising to see Garnacho preferred in United’s only substitution since the win against Southampton last Saturday. Ten Hag said the England striker’s absence was “not a difficult decision because we have to rotate” as they were also able to get Mason Mount and Rasmus Højlund back to form a strong bench of nine internationals.

This was quite a contrast to United’s last visit to the area 138 days ago, when they had two goalkeepers and four players in the team who had never played for the first team.

Much has changed at Palace since that Michael Olise-inspired victory. The French striker was the star of his new team, Bayern Munich, in their 5-0 win over Wolfsburg on Saturday. Glasner brought new signing Daichi Kamada into midfield to replace the injured Cheick Doucouré, while Eddie Nketiah was called upon to replace Olise after he scored his first goal for Palace in the EFL Cup against QPR.

United looked determined to pick up where they left off in their 7-0 win over Barnsley in midweek and would have taken the lead in the first 15 minutes had it not been for Henderson. The Palace goalkeeper, who spent eight years at Old Trafford, first parried Garnacho’s shot after it was cleverly played in by Joshua Zirkee and then saved a Matthijs de Ligt header and a Lisandro Martínez shot at the near post in the space of 60 seconds as the Palace defence was caught completely off guard.

The hosts found it difficult to find their rhythm as Kobbie Mainoo and Christian Eriksen dominated in midfield and Glasner vented his frustration on the sidelines.

Somehow they escaped when Maxence Lacroix lost his eye on the ball and passed to Diogo Dalot Garnacho, whose shot rebounded off the crossbar and fell to Bruno Fernandes, but the United captain’s volley bounced off and landed in virtually the same place.

Zirkzee was then unlucky when a cross from Fernandes was deflected by the slightest touch from Garnacho at the far post while the goal was open.

Palace had their first attempt on goal two minutes before half-time, but Eberechi Eze could only shoot straight at Onana.

Glasner opted to replace Jean-Philippe Mateta and the struggling Adam Wharton, who was taking painkillers for a groin injury, for the second half and Palace immediately looked more dangerous. De Ligt had to step in to stop Eze after a brilliant pirouette was followed by a clever one-two with Nketiah.

A flowing move for United, initiated by Mainoo, ended with Fernandes firing narrowly wide with the outside of his boot. The stage seemed set for Rashford when he came on for Zirkzee after the hour mark, but it was Garnacho who was next to test Henderson after being set up by Dalot.

United had their goalkeeper to thank, making a brilliant recovery from Nketiah’s shot to meet Ismaïla Sarr’s follow-up from close range when it seemed easier for the substitute to score.

The Senegalese striker could hardly believe his luck, but his alertness allowed Eze to equalise a few minutes from time, but his shot flew past Onana’s post.

Højlund was allowed to play the final 15 minutes after returning from a thigh injury, but neither team seemed able to make a breakthrough as Palace continue to search for their first win of the new season.