Martial scores again as United beat Palace 3-1 in Melbourne

New coach Erik ten Hag said his players' belief was improving after Anthony Martial scored his third goal in three games as a slick Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 3-1 on Tuesday.

In front of 76,500 fans at Melbourne Cricket Ground, French forward Martial struck in the first half while Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho both collected their second goals of the pre-season tour after the restart.

Joel Ward pulled one back for Palace, but they were always chasing a game that saw United reduced to 10 men in the dying minutes after Will Fish was sent off for a deliberate foul.

The friendly victory was Ten Hag's third since taking over after their 4-0 thumping of Liverpool in Bangkok and a 4-1 win over Melbourne Victory.

In contrast, it was a second straight defeat for Patrick Vieira's young Palace side, who crashed 2-0 to Liverpool in Singapore on Friday.

"We are happy with the improvement we are seeing, but there is also a lot of work to do," said Ten Hag. "We did score some wonderful goals, that's true.

"We played well and I think the belief is increasing," he added while praising his forwards in particular.

"They did a lot of running, a lot of work. They have a lot of energy and were rewarded by scoring goals."

The Dutchman is beginning to stamp his mark on the Old Trafford side, with his team -- who finished a disappointing sixth last season in the Premier League -- producing some fluid, one-touch football.

Goalkeeper David de Gea returned after missing the Victory game with a niggle.

New left-back Tyrell Malacia began ahead of Luke Shaw, while Rashford was back in the starting line-up after scoring as a substitute against Victory, partnering a rejuvenated Martial and Sancho in Cristiano Ronaldo's absence.

Christian Eriksen and