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Manchester United suffered their sixth home defeat of the Premier League season at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
Yankuba Minteh put the visitors ahead, but a Bruno Fernandes penalty midway through the first half appeared to provide the platform United needed to move on to all three points.
However, a chaotic second half saw Kaoru Mitoma tap home at the back post, before a big mistake from goalkeeper Andre Onana gifted Georginio Rutter a third in an eventful 3-1 victory.
How the game unfolded
It took just four minutes for Brighton to open the scoring. Carlos Baleba’s delightful long ball over the top sent Kaoru Mitoma through on goal, and the Japan international unselfishly squared for Minteh to tap into an open goal.
United gained possession quickly and the likes of Amad Diallo and Diogo Dalot had some dangerous moments down the wings, before Bruno Fernandes headed wide from the edge of the penalty area.
Two penalty shouts came and went before United were finally awarded a spot-kick at the third time of asking. Brighton were caught out by the home side’s press and Baleba dragged Joshua Zirkzy to the ground, and Fernandes made no mistake from 12 yards to tie things up.
Amad looked to make it two when he rounded Bart Verbruggen, but the young forward narrowly narrowed the corner for himself and United could not head into the break.
As they did in the first half, Brighton found the back of the net early in the second half. A bit of penalty box pinball saw the ball fall to Joao Pedro’s feet, when he realized what was actually happening, he fired the ball past Andre Ona. VAR reviewed the footage and saw a foul by Jan Paul van Hecke on Dalot, disallowing the goal.
However, there would be no saving United on the hour mark. Minteh’s cross landed right at the back post, where Mitoma had to stretch to tap into the back of the net.
Rutter was given a chance to make it three on 15 minutes after a big mistake from Onana. The United stopper somehow flicked a routine cross into the box and the Brighton substitute could hardly believe his luck as he tapped into the empty net.
Check out player ratings from Man Utd 1-3 Brighton here.
combined Was good in the first half and responded well to the first setback, but once Brighton took control of proceedings in the second half, the Red Devils clearly lost their focus.
They were lucky to avoid going behind with Joao Pedro’s disallowed goal, but Brighton kept coming and made their momentum count when Mitoma popped up at the back post to restore the Seagulls’ lead.
Things became slow and predictable for United as they became too easy to play against, before Onana’s mistake ended any hope of a resurgence of optimism. Reuben Amorim needs to find a solution to this mindset issue.
Deployed here as an attacking midfielder, Amad still made a point of trying to do as much as he could to help the team, and his defensive work drew as much attention as he did with the ball at his feet.
It was his high press that led to the penalty, before which he saw two shouts of his own, and there were several moments in which Amad was seen helping his full backs at the other end of the pitch.
In the future, Amad became his living self. He caused many problems down the right wing and looked as likely as anyone in red to find the back of the net from open play.
United had no need to concede a third here. The cross in Onana was slow, gentle, and the kind of thing he should hold with his eyes closed, and yet somehow he threw him into the worst position imaginable.
Mistakes are a part of football – of course they are – but this has been too much of a habit for Onana during his time in England and United are in no position to put their faith in a goalkeeper capable of such chaotic moments.
Expect to see a goalkeeper added to the transfer Wish list in 2025. There is only so much of this that Amorim can take.
Few who have watched Baleba have ever questioned his ability with the ball. That was evident here from the first minute, his delightful long ball past Mitoma to open the scoring. Really sensational stuff.
However, what the young midfielder needs to work on is his concentration and composure. His penchant for conceding penalties saw him clothesline Zirkzy conceding a penalty from which United equalised. One of those moments he just has to shake off his game.
To his credit, Baleba then challenged his side to promotion. His ball recovery was outstanding and United simply couldn’t keep up. He looks technically ready for the big move but could get a bit more time to develop his mentality at Brighton.
