Man Utd 1-3 Brighton LIVE RESULT: Red Devils stunned by flying Seagulls after horror show at Old Trafford – reaction
MANCHESTER UNITED have been beaten 3-1 by Brighton after a horror show at Old Trafford.
Danny Welbeck tapped in early on to claim the Seagulls' first of the afternoon against his old side.
Pascal Gross made it two in the second half, and Joao Pedro scored his first Brighton goal to make it 3-0 before Hannibal pulled one back for United, but it wasn't to be for the Red Devils.
- Match result: Man United 1-3 Brighton
- Man Utd XI: Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Martinez, Reguilon; Casemiro, Eriksen, McTominay; Fernandes, Rashford; Hojlund
- Brighton XI: Steele; Lamptey, Dunk, Van Hecke, Veltman; Dahoud, Gross, Lallana; Welbeck, Adringa, Mitoma
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The full-time stats
Man United had 14 shots against Brighton.
But just four of them were on target.
In comparison, eight of Brighton's 10 efforts were spot on.
The Seagulls also had 57 per cent possession
And they had an incredible pass accuracy of 91 per cent after playing the ball 659 times.
United only made 487 passes with an accuracy of 85 per cent.
Fans boo Hojlund decision
Ten Hag faced the music when he took Hojlund off today.
The striker was having a good game when he was replaced by Anthony Martial.
And fans let Ten Hag know exactly what they thought by loudly jeering the move.
Erik on Bayern next
"It is a great opportunity against a great opponent.
"We are all looking forward to being back in the Champions League where we belong.
"But you have to fight for it, prove yourself every time as a team and as an individual".
Ten Hag on Hojlund
"He is coming with a small issue and we have to be careful but the reception of the fans was great.
"His game was great and the fans embraced it.
"He was unlucky with the disallowed goal, it would have been a great afternoon for him. It was not the case but he will keep going.
"He is a strong character as we are as a team and we will push back."
Credit: Getty More from Erik
"There's always some improvements to make, especially the organisation. But is was not our day.
"The second goal was straight after half-time. Second chance second goal, very clinical.
"It was a setback we did not deal with so good. but we have to keep positive in such moments and stick together and you will get back onto the game.
"You learn many things from such a game. From the mental side, you can keep strong in moments but I have seen some good stuff. the way we created many chances we are just not finishing them, but that will change."
Ten Hag speaks out
Erik ten Hag has finally delivered his thoughts on United's disappointing loss.
He said: "We are disappointed. But it was really small margins. We are so close against a good side. The first 20 minutes was all ours. We created chances but didn't score.
"We conceded a goal with their first attack. We then had a period in the game that was quite difficult, we fought to get a goal and it was disallowed. So it is difficult in this period.
"It has not fallen on our side, but we will fight back and if we stick together, play as a team, stick to the rules, we will return."
Credit: PA Tactical tweak
There was a definite shift in approach from United today.
It worked for a good 15 minutes against Brighton.
But like De Zerbi said, once the Seagulls cracked the code, United could not get back into the game.
Turning point?
What could have been had Hojlund's goal been allowed to stand?
The striker looked to have equalised with his first-ever Red Devils strike.
But VAR ruled out the goal after Rashford took the ball out of play.
De Zerbi in the building
Robert De Zerbi reckons his Brighton team have more to give despite a dominant performance at the Theatre of Dreams.
He said: "We played a great, great game. We deserved to win, we played well. In the first 15, 20 minutes we suffered a lot because Man United played in a different way than we prepared for but after that we played a great game.
"We have to keep our style when we are losing, when we are wining. We can't forget our DNA because the game can change and it's bad when the result can change our style.
"We are working to not lose our characteristic, our quality and to score more goals. We scored three but had many chances to score again."
Credit: Reuters Man of Steele
Jason Steele has hailed Brighton for another impressive win at Old Trafford.
He told Premier League Productions: "It feels great. A great win. Away at Old Trafford, it is an amazing feeling.
"We deserved it too, we played with courage, with a big heart and definitely deserved to win.
"We want to play on the front foot, aggressive, United played a bit different to what we expected, so we had to get to grips with that.
"But after 10-15 minutes we settled down and got a foothold in the game."
Credit: Reuters More from Eriksen
"The small things. We had the offside at Arsenal and today when we scored but it was out of play.
"The small things we are missing and a bit of luck to get over the line and get something out of the effort we put in.
"Any game at the start of the season, doesn't matter who you play, is very important.
"We focus on our games and whoever we play we want to win. But we have lost three already and we have to change that."
Eriksen speaks out
Christian Eriksen admits Man Utd were not good enough in their defeat to Brighton.
He told BBC Sport: "It is a heavy one. We have to look at ourselves. We changed some things but we are disappointed.
"In the first half we had a lot of moments, had good control. They had a lot of possession but not many chances.
"They then score with their first chance and the system they play they keep the ball a lot and we had to chase it down.
"But we still had chances to get back into the game."
Credit: Reuters Final ratings
Marcus Rashford – 6
Came as close as anyone to scoring for United but should have helped himself to a couple of goals.
Unfortunate to see a deflected shot hit the angle in the first half but misses cost his team.
Rasmus Hojlund – 7
Missed a good early chance and unlucky to see goal disallowed due to ball being out late in the first half but his full debut was encouraging.
The fans showed what they thought when he was subbed just after the hour.
SUBS
Hannibal (for Casemiro, 64 mins) – 7
Briliant long range goal gave United a glimmer.
Anthony Martial (for Hojlund, 64 mins) - 5
Did nothing to change the mind of fans who didn’t want him on.
Alejandro Garnacho (for Reguilon, 85 mins) - 5
United knew the game was up when he came on.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (for Martinez, 85 mins) - 5
Not well enough to start and United suffered as a result.
Facundo Pellistri (for McTominay, 85 mins) - 5
Thrown on too late to make any impact.
More ratings
Casemiro – 5
Needlessly Blazed ball out of play shortly before Brighton’s opener but United found themselves chasing shadows.
Replaced by Hannibal just after the hour – and the youngster perked United up.
Scott McTominay – 5
Could have left last month but finally got his chance to take his Scotland form onto the club stage.
Began brightly but his influence faded after the Seagulls got in front.
Bruno Fernandes – 6
Asked to fill the gap left by Antony and Sancho by moving out to the right of a diamond but the new skipper could not impact the game the way he usually does.
Ended up playing in defence at the end of a ragged display.
Christian Eriksen – 5
Lovely pirouette in the first few minutes from the Dane but the question is whether he still has the legs required.
A few uncharacteristic stray passes too as Seagulls took charge.
Player ratings
Andre Onana – 5
His passing is one thing but is he a good enough shot-stopper? Hard to blame him for the first two goals but he will be disappointed at the third from Pedro.
Great late stop from Fati but the damage was already done.
Diogo Dalot – 5
Asked to move across to right-back due to illness to Wan Bissaka and found it tough going against Mitoma.
Too much space on his flank as the second and third goals went in.
Victor Lindelof –5
At fault for Seagulls opener as weak challenge on Lallana allowed Welbeck to score.
At the other end he wasted a good chance when he headed a corner over – that could have made it interesting had it gone in.
Lisandro Martinez – 5
Battled back from injury to start ahead of Made to look foolish a feint from Gross for Seagulls second goal.
Part of a dismal defensive display but at least set up Hannibal’s goal.
Sergio Reguilon – 6
Full debut for on loan Spurs man and set up Rashford for early chance.
The Spaniard looked bright going forward with a couple of useful crosses but defensively suspect as the opener came down his flank.
Catch up here
Missed all of today's action between United and Brighton?
We've got you covered with our match report here...
Where do United go from here?
Things certainly don't get any easier for Ten Hag.
His men now travel to Germany on Wednesday night.
They will play Bayern Munich in their Champions League group stage opener.
And United will be hoping to guard against Harry Kane, who was once a top target for them.
Credit: Getty Another defeat
It's three defeats in four matches for United now.
Ten Hag looked glum as he marched off the pitch.
Wonder if Sancho would have made a difference today...
Full time: Man Utd 1 Brighton 3
Well, what a result this is for the Seagulls.
United fans aren't happy and jeer at the final whistle.
It really was the same old story, scrappy in possession and no clinical edge.
Ten Hag's subs proved controversial too, with supporters furious when Hojlund was removed from the field.
Credit: Reuters Man Utd 1 Brighton 3 - Close!
90+4. Hannibal goes into the book for a reckless challenge.
And it opens the way for Fati to burst into a one-on-one with Onana.
But the Barcelona man hits it wrong and sends the ball wide.
Should have been four.
Man Utd 1 Brighton 3
90+2. Old Trafford has almost emptied out alraedy.
The fans have seen enough and are voting with their feet.
But the away supporters are in jubilant voice and won't be moving for a while.
Man Utd 1 Brighton 3
90. We will have SIX minutes of added time here.
United must find a goal now.
Garnacho breaks into the box after a speedy run but he is offside.
Man Utd 1 Brighton 3
89. Fati gets a strike off but it's well handled by Onana.
Brighton are happy to regroup and let United pass it around their defence.
The hosts are struggling to get out of their own half at the minute.
We'll find out how much added time there is shortly.
Man Utd 1 Brighton 3
87. Time's ticking at Old Trafford and there's no sign of life from United.
In fact, the change in personnel only looks to have strengthened Brighton's resolve.
And any time United get hold of the ball, the Seagulls swarm to regain possession immediately.