Manchester United 2, Brighton and Hove Albion 1
7 wins in a row for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer became the first Manchester United manager to win their first 6 league games, with the Brighton and Hove Albion win becoming the Reds 7th win in a row in all competitions.
He was also the only the third manager to win their first 6 league games in the Premier League era after Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola.
Illness forces late change to the Manchester United team sheet.
United had to make a very late change to what would have been un unchanged team sheet from the win at Spurs.
Luke Shaw was taken ill in the warm-up and was replaced by Diogo Dalot with Matteo Darmian coming onto the bench.
Brighton also won the toss and elected to switch sides, leaving the Reds to attack the Stretford End in the first half.
Worrying signs of complacency for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
In his programme notes, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer warned against complacency and he was nearly proved right.
It seemed that Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku would come on as a relatively late double substitution before Brighton scored but United had been flagging well before that.
Solskjaer changed his mind after Pascal Gross scored and only brought Mata on soon afterwards. possible signs of the complacency that he was warning about prior to the game?
Manchester United too open in the final quarter of the game
United seemed nervous even before the late United changes, and more so afterwards as Brighton started to commit more to attack in the final 20 minutes. The Reds had stopped playing as they looked to hold on to their now slender lead with the Seagulls on the attack – ironically towards the Stretford End.
In the end, Marcus Rashford had to be taken off after collecting the first booking. He was replaced by Matteo Darmian who wasn’t even in the matchday squad until just minutes before kick off.
Brighton had their chances to grab the equaliser – they went close but couldn’t find the quality needed to score the extra goal they needed.
PLAYER RATINGS – Manchester United 2, Brighton and Hove Albion 1
David De Gea: 6. Relatively quiet game after his Spurs heroics. Was little warning of the Brighton goal before Davy Propper’s cross caught his defence cold.
Ashley Young: 6. Decent set pieces but not much attacking flair.
Phil Jones: 6. Mistake for the Brighton goal.
Victor Lindelof: 6. Poor distribution.
Diogo Dalot: 6. Drafted in late to the side, crossed for Marcus Rashford’s goal for United while playing from left back.
Ander Herrera: 6. Quietly anchored midfield but lacked dynamism like his partner Nemanja Matic
Nemanja Matic: 6. Mopped up Brighton attacks alongside Herrera but could not prevent the Reds from freezing in the final quarter of the game.
Jesse Lingard: 6. Left out a bit in all the theatrics from the first half – missed out on a tap-in when Marcus Rashford’s fire low shot whizzed by him and outside of the back post. Replaced by Juan Mata.
Paul Pogba: 7. Was in the mood for flamboyance today. An overhead kick went wide. He was brought down by Getan Bong for a penalty after 25 minutes and did a customary tip-toed run-up before smashing it past David Button. Faded out of the game in the final quarter.
Anthony Martial: 7. Improved later in the game. Had a first half shot clawed away by David Button at close range. Denied a penalty and had a shot off the side netting skipping past two defenders.
Marcus Rashford: 8. Making his 150th appearance in all competitions for United and celebrated with a confident all round striker’s performance. He had an early shot cleared off the line, another wide. Recovered from a painful clash of heads with Shane Duffy to score shortly before half time with a great shot from wide on the left. Went close with a free kick in the second half and a long range effort which just went in front of Jesse Lingard.
Juan Mata (on for Jesse Lingard 75): 6. United were already in their shell when he came on.
Romelu Lukaku (on for Anthony Martial 82): Too late to mark.
Matteo Darmian (on for Marcus Rashford 90+3): Too Late to mark the Italian who wasn’t even in the matchday squad until the warm-up .
GOALS – Manchester United 2, Brighton and Hove Albion 1
Man Utd 1, Brighton 0: 27. Paul Pogba tip-toes up before smashing a penalty past David Button after he was brought down by Gaetan Bong after 25 minutes.
Man Utd 2, Brighton 0: 42. Diogo Dalot gave the ball to Marcus Rashford who wriggled free of Pascal Gross before firing in from wide on the left, 6 yards out
Man Utd 2, Brighton 1: 72. Pascal Gross pulls one back from 6 yards out after capitalising on an unexpected outswinging cross in by Davy Propper with the outside of his right boot which fell between Phil Jones and Diogo Dalot.
MATCH STATS – Manchester United 2, Brighton and Hove Albion 1
Man Utd: De Gea, Young (c), Jones, Lindelof, Dalot, Herrera, Matic, Lingard (Mata 75), Pogba, Martial, Rashford (Darmian 90+3)
Man Utd subs not used: Romero, Bailly, Sanchez, Lukaku, Pereira,
Booked: Rashford 90+3
Goals: Pogba 27 pen, Rashford 42
Brighton: Button, Montoya, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, March (Knockaert 60), Gross (Kayal 82), Stephens, Propper, Locadia, Murray (Andone 60)
Brighton Subs not used: Steele, Bruno, Balogun, Gyokeres
Goal: Gross 72