BRIGHTON 3, MANCHESTER UNITED 2
Manchester United’s shock defeat to Brighton at the Amex Stadium after a series of dreadful errors allowed the Seagulls to repeat their feat of beating Jose Mourinho’s side for the second time in the same calendar year.
Chris Hughton’s side repeated the feat that kept them in the Premier League in May by ruthlessly exploiting a listless United performance and punishing their defensive errors.
United boss Jose Mourinho made three changes from the start – Anthony Martial was given a surprise start with Alexis Sanchez declared unfit with ‘a little problem’, while Romelu Lukaku replaced Marcus Rashford and Ashley Young came in for Matteo Darmian.
Mourinho could only watch helplessly as his defence – Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof in particular – looked shaky, their midfield lacked drive and the attackers were isolated in a disjointed and lacklustre showing on the south coast.
Two goals in two minutes from Glenn Murray and Shane Duffy put the Reds on the back foot in the 25th and 27th minutes of the game and while Lukaku pulled one back in within seven minutes of going 2-0 down Pascal Gross’ penalty just before the break restored the home side’s two goal lead.
Murray had escaped the attention of Lindelof to receive a Solly March cross for his goal while Eric Bailly’s defending was a shambles two minutes and 23 seconds later when Duffy was left free by the Ivorian to double the home side’s lead after first conceding the chance.
Lukaku halved the deficit after nodding home Luke Shaw’s deflected cross but Gross was brought down by Bailly’s challenge – the Brighton playmaker squeezed his poor penalty past David De Gea who could have done better.
Mourinho made two changes at the break, with Jesse Lingard and Rashford coming on for Andreas Pereira and Juan Mata while Marouane Fellaini inevitably followed on the hour mark for the anonymous Martial who studiously blanked the Reds manager as he left the field.
United’s captain, Paul Pogba, later admitted that the team’s attitude wasn’t right with the Reds looking unlikely to get anything from the game deep into stoppage time when he smashed home what was little more than a consolation goal from the penalty spot after Fellaini had been fouled to make the game look closer than it actually was.
MATCH STATS – Brighton 3, Manchester United 2
Brighton: Ryan, Montoya, Duffy, Dunk (Balogun 20), Bong, Knockeart, Stephens, Propper, March, Gross (Kayal 90), Murray (Locadia 90+3)
Brighton Subs not used: Button, Bissouma, Jahanbakhsh, Bernardo
Booked: Murray
Goals: Murray 25, Duffy 27, Gross 44 (pen)
Man Utd: De Gea, Young, Bailly, Lindelof, Shaw, Fred, A Pereira (Lingard 46), Pogba, Mata (Rashford 46), Lukaku, Martial (Fellaini 60)
Man Utd Subs not used: Grant, Smalling, Herrera, McTominay
Goals: Lukaku 34, Pogba 90+5 (pen)