“I was always against those calling Eric Ten Hag inexperienced coach but what he did yesterday really shows they were right…You can’t keep benching your BEST player and expect miracle to happen”: Manchester United hero slams Eric Ten Hag for benching starlet against Brighton yesterday
Manchester United leave themselves wide open for 95th-minute winner by flying Brighton
Joao Pedro celebrates snatching a dramatic late victory for Brighton
Key moments
Chosen by us to get you up to speed at a glance
90+5 mins (2-1)
GOAL! Pedro surely wins it
70 mins (1-1)
Garnacho goal ruled out
60 mins (1-1)
GOAL! Amad Diallo equalises
59 mins (1-0)
Welbeck hits the bar with header
32 mins (1-0)
GOAL! Welbeck breaks the deadlock
Every one of Erik ten Hag’s players was in the Manchester United penalty area when the decisive corner came on 94 minutes, and that they had conceded the winner 15 seconds later was symbolic of the 11 years of tumult that continues.
No matter the resources United throw at a problem, it never seems to be enough. A great open, attacking game had ended in defeat for Ten Hag, the early season impetus from victory against Fulham was lost and next Sunday it is Liverpool at Old Trafford. It does not take much for the storm clouds to gather over this curious managerial regime and a team with a consistency to their weaknesses.
The winning goal from João Pedro, the sharp point of an excellent home side, came at the back post where two Brighton attackers were left unmarked.
This was once the period that United won games in a different era, now it tends to be where they lose them – or at least lose leads, as they did to the 89th-minute Manchester City goal in the Community Shield final earlier this month and many times last season.
Indeed, United were specialists in conceding late goals last season including two that went in after 100 minutes had elapsed. There was a late penalty from Coventry City in the FA Cup semi-final. There was also Mohamed Salah’s 84th minute equaliser for Liverpool in early April and Zeki Amdouni’s 87th- minute equaliser later that month for Burnley. Even Newcastle scored late in a 3-2 win for United in May. There were nine conceded in second-half stoppage time alone.
“We should be more clinical in these situations,” Ten Hag said later, “read the game, take the point.” This time it was João Pedro in space at the back post as substitute Simon Adingra had time to cross the ball from a recycled corner that United had tried and failed to get clear. But there was a bigger picture – a United team that had good periods in the game but could not quite close out the result. That included an unfortunate intervention from substitute Joshua Zirkzee that saw a potential winner from fellow substitute Alejandro Garnacho disallowed.
Joao Pedro scoring the winner against Manchester United for Brighton
João Pedro was left completely unmarked at the back post with Man Utd defenders attracted to the ball Credit: Premier League
Even so, it keeps happening and now there are big decisions facing Ten Hag. He will find it hard to make a case to pick Marcus Rashford against Liverpool with Garnacho and Zirkzee both pushing for a start. Mason Mount came off at half-time with another injury issue that Ten Hag was sufficiently worried about not to risk him further.
For Fabian Hürzeler, the new 31-year-old manager of Brighton, two wins from two games put his side top of the Premier League at the final whistle. Nevertheless, he was notably measured afterwards. “We have to be honest – we could have lost today as well,” he said. “When United scored [a goal ruled out for Zirkzee’s offside touch] it would have been difficult to win the game. I will always be realistic; never euphoric.”
Alejandro Garnacho scores for Man Utd but it’s disallowed for one of the tightest offsides you’ll see
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 24, 2024
This was another excellent Brighton performance albeit without many of the new signings that have made the club one of the biggest spenders in the Premier League so far this summer. Instead it was João Pedro and Billy Gilmour who stood out. The latter has been reported to be on the brink of a move to Napoli but Hürzeler seemed to discourage that suggestion. He would not say explicitly that the Scotland midfielder would stay but there seems to be a good chance.
Only Yankuba Minteh from among the new players started the game, and Georginio Rutter was a late substitute, as Hürzeler pushed for the win with a run of bold 89th-minute substitutions. It was one of them, Adingra, who created the goal in a game that had become recklessly open for both teams.
Brighton had taken the lead in the first half through Danny Welbeck, a former United academy graduate who left the club nine years ago and was the only player on the pitch to have played for Sir Alex Ferguson. There may be no greater sign of the mixed and often misguided strategies of United post-Ferguson that Welbeck might still get in this United side, aged 33. He hit the bar with another good header in the second half.
Danny Welbeck scoring for Brighton against Manchester United
Danny Welbeck was on hand to score against his former club after Kaoru Mitoma’s ball across the box Credit: Reuters/Tony O’Brien
Welbeck, like the 38-year-old James Milner, is much older than his German manager who was magnanimous enough to say that there is much he can learn from the veteran striker. “Danny went through experiences I never went through as a player,” Hürzeler said. “I’ve had some talks with him.” That blend of well-sourced global talent, and strong British experience suits Brighton well although with almost £200 million spent there will be expectations too.
Welbeck scored when Kaoru Mitoma retrieved João Pedro’s cross and Harry Maguire was unsighted as the ball came back. Rashford, who spent much of the game offside, had an equaliser disallowed for that. Bruno Fernandes got Milner’s shot off the line after João Pedro had slipped him in. Amad Diallo scored an equaliser after a fine move, his shot deflected in off Jan Paul Van Hecke as he tried to block.
The big moment came for United when Zirkzee slid in to touch Garnacho’s goal-bound shot on 70 minutes, thus forcing VAR to disallow it after an excellent counter-attacking move. It set the stage for a blistering close to the game and one slip of concentration from United let in João Pedro for the winner.
Brighton 2 Manchester United 1: As it happened
Live Reporting
Related Stories
Sam Wallace,
Chief Football Writer, at Amex Stadium and
Will Conroy,
live updates
24 August 2024 • 6:51pm
3:33PM
That’s it from us
Thank you for joining us as Fabian Hurzeler continued his winning start as Brighton boss following his side’s 2-1 victory over Manchester United thanks to Joao Pedro’s late winner.
3:30PM
Brighton deserved win after regaining control, says Hurzeler
Speaking after the game Fabian Hurzeler said: “I think my team deserve to win. We lost control, and that’s one of the biggest strengths of United, in the transition, and we were fortunate with the offside – but that was a wake-up for us, and we controlled the game again. I could feel it on the sideline.”
Brighton manager Fabana Hurzeler (r) with captain Lewis Dunk
Fabian Hurzeler has now won his first two Premier League games Credit: Reuters/Matthew Childs
3:20PM
Key moments in calamitous closing stages for United
Once the match was levelled at 1-1, there were two key incidents that determined the outcome of this one and United provided two comical moments to ensure it was Brighton who walked away with the three points.
The first came as Garnacho’s certain goal deflected off Zirkzee on the line meaning it was ruled out for offside. The second came in the 95th minute as the United defence left Joao Pedro with the freedom of the six-yard box to head home the winner.
Zirkzee gets a touch on Garnacho’s goal-bound strike to rule it out for offside
Zirkzee gets a touch on Garnacho’s goal-bound strike to rule it out for offside
United leave Pedro with plenty of room to head home the winner
United leave Pedro with plenty of room to head home the winner
3:13PM
Ten Hag disappointed at ‘soft goals’
Whether the goals United conceded were soft, Erik ten Hag told TNT Sports: “Yeah that is our feeling that we concede two soft goals where we should act better as a team.”
Asked on what his team needed to better on the goals, he said: “So many things in that moment, we have to talk, we have to be aligned in such moments.”
On the positives from the game, he said: “I think there were very good parts in the game, we had a lot of control in possession we created good chances, we showed resilience we came back and scored a winning goal – we thought it was a winning goal… it’s a pity we have to take this, it’s a disappointment but I can take a lot of positives from the performance
Discussing Mason Mount’s withdrawal, the United boss said: “He had some problems he had an issue but also Joshua coming in – we are losing the game, I think he had a good impact on the game.”
On how this will dent their spirits, he said: “We have to take the positives, we have to learn. You can’t drop points so unnecessary, if you protect the goal like we do you drop points and top football is about details, we have to do better in such occasions.”
2:52PM
Brighton United’s bogey team
Manchester United have lost a higher percentage of their Premier League games against Brighton than any other side they have faced in the competition’s history (47%).
15 games, 7 defeats.
— Squawka (@Squawka) August 24, 2024
2:42PM
Brighton wanted to ‘show our power’, says Pedro
Speaking to TNT Sports, Brighton goalscorer Joao Pedro said: “First I’m very happy for the win. I think this goal at the end shows how much we wanted to win the game, first game at home against a big team. I cannot feel better than today. I think the team did well and now we need to rest because we have another big game next weekend.
“I think the fans know the power of the team so they always expect a great game against big teams and today we won so I think everyone is happy and we need to enjoy.”
On how Brighton were motivated for the game, he said: “Like the gaffer said to us, we need to believe in ourselves, we know they are United, a big club, but I think everyone wants to show our power. I think this is what motivates us to fight against a big team and you never know. Now we need to think about the next game, another big team.”
Discussing the impact of Brighton’s new boss, Fabian Hurzeler, he said: “I think he’s a very good person, he always tries to push us to believe in ourselves, to keep it going. I think it was another big game for us, another three points and this is what he wants: to fight, push, until the end.”
2:39PM
Contrasting emotions at full-time
Lewis Dunk (r) and Joao Pedro
Jubilation for Dunk and Pedro Credit: Reuters/Tony O’Brien
Casemiro and Martinez of Manchester United
Casemiro left scratching his head after defeat Credit: Reuters/Matthew Childs
2:26PM
Full time: Brighton 2 Manchester United 1
Brighton win it! There are just two minutes left to play following Pedro’s goal and United fail to respond.
What a finale at the Amex stadium to an entertaining and even match. That makes it two from two for Brighton and Hurzeler.
They are – for now – three points clear at the top of the table.
A well-deserved win for Brighton but unlucky you have to say for United after that remarkable disallowed goal.
Joao Pedro celebrating after scoring
Joao Pedro’s late winner clinched three points for Brighton Credit: Reuters/Matthew Childs
2:23PM
GOAL! Pedro surely wins it
90+5 mins: Brighton 2 Manchester United 1 (Pedro) The corner drops to Adingra at the back post. After a couple of passes around the edge of the box Adingra is found again, cuts in onto his right foot and floats a cross to the back post to Pedro who is in acres. The forward heads it back across Onana into the bottom corner. A great header but where was the United defence?
Brighton may well have grabbed the winner in the dying minutes
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 24, 2024
2:23PM
90+5 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
Enciso now down Brighton’s left plays a cross into the box that de Ligt can divert behind for a corner before Adingra can meet it.
2:22PM
90+4 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
Brighton look to take a quick free-kick in a promising position but they are haulted by the referee’s whistle. Instead they will deliver into the box from the left. Enciso puts in a dangerous flat cross but McTominay heads clear.
Rutto shows some quick feet before Enciso is found. He lets fly from the edge of the box and it whistles just over. A great effort from the Paraguay international.
2:19PM
90+1 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
Mitoma, Gilmour and Minteh are off in place off Adingra, Ayari, and the arrival from Leeds and club-record signing Rutter. Antony is on for Diallo for United.
With seven minutes added on, as Casemiro has an effort saved comfortably by Steele, there may well be more chances in this one.
2:17PM
89 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
Garnacho looks to get passed van Hecke with some stepovers but the defender stands up well. Down the other Minteh isn’t on the same wavelength and passes the ball straight to Onana with Brighton in a dangerous position.
Both sides are certainly going for it here and there is a triple-substitution on the way for Brighton while Antony is warming up for United. Van Hecke picks up a yellow for a foul on Martinez as tempers threaten to flare.
2:15PM
87 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
Garnacho attacks his full back and wins a corner down United’s left sparking a reaction from their fans in the corner but Dunk can head clear.
After a spell of Brighton pressure United look likely to counter but Garnacho’s diagonal ball is wayward and out for a throw-in.
2:12PM
84 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
Enciso is involved early on but his cross is safely into the arms of Onana who then slows the game down for a moment. The goalkeeper then comes flying across his byline to make a sliding tackle on Minteh after United had given it away cheaply trying to play out.
A good tackle but one United fans wouldn’t have been too pleased to see being made. Onana punches clear well from a resulting corner.
2:08PM
80 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
Joshua Zirkzee’s accidental touch on Alejandro Garnacho’s shot means United’s second is offside. Nevertheless it was a great counter attacking move. One gets the impression that both teams would be more comfortable playing that way. It is an open game now.
2:07PM
78 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
It’s Gilmour standing over the free-kick here from less than 25 yards out but it’s straight into the wall. Hinshelwood keeps it alive with a deep cross to the back post and Pedro attacks it out with a header but it bounces through to Onana.
Mainoo then picks up a yellow for a foul on Baleba. There are changes for both sides now too as Julio Enciso comes on for goalscorer Danny Welbeck while Matthijs De Ligt and Scott McTominay are introduced in place of Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes.
2:04PM
75 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
James Milner has been withdrawn after an excellent display and Carlos Baleba is on in his place. Can they go and win this now after that massive stroke of luck?
Diallo picks up the first yellow card for a foul on the edge of the United box. A dangerous position for Brighton to defend here.
2:00PM
72 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
Manchester United have had a goal ruled out in the most remarkable circumstances. United counter on Brighton with numbers and Fernandes is played into the box on the overlap.
He squares it to Garnacho who just has to tap home and he does so but via a touch from Zirkzee on the line with no defenders in sight. Garnacho wheels away to begin with but the Video Assistant Referee rules it out – correctly.
Zirkzee had no impact on that going in but he was offside as he touched it right on the line.
1:58PM
70 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
Garnacho has his first bright touches down United’s left and he pulls it back but it is just behind Diallo coming in from the opposite wing. United look more confident now following the goal.
Welbeck slips in Minteh as Brighton appear to have a three on two but he chooses to go solo and his shot is blocked. Perhaps the wrong move.
1:54PM
66 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 1
That is so disappointing for Brighton after Welbeck had struck the woodwork moments earlier. Rashford has been withdrawn in place of Garnacho. An unsurprising change after another quiet afternoon for the winger.
Casemiro has a speculative effort from the edge of the box but it’s over without troubling Steele.
1:49PM
GOAL! Amad Diallo equalises
Brighton 1 Manchester United 1 (Diallo) Mazraoui slips in Diallo down United’s right. The winger cuts in onto his left foot in the box and his low strike, via a big touch from van Hecke, finds the back of the net.
There is a check for offside but he is played on and the goal stands. His effort looked to be on target before van Hecke’s sliding effort to block. The goal should stay as his.
Amad Diallo secures the equaliser and Man Utd are level
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 24, 2024
1:47PM
59 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 0
United are played in behind and despite everyone in the stadium seeing it is offside play resumes and falls to Rashford who drags his effort way, way wide and is met with jeers. The flag then goes up.
Diallo has a hold of Milner’s shirt as he looks to drive into the box from the left and Brighton have a free-kick on the edge of the box at the byline. Minteh delivers a great ball in and Welbeck rattles the crossbar with his header. So unlucky!
1:44PM
57 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 0
Fernandes works a one-two with Zirkzee into the box but he can’t quite get it under control before he tries to volley home and the ball scuffs into Steele’s arms.
Minteh cuts in onto his left foot to float an inswinging cross that finds Welbeck. The striker meets it well with a header but it’s straight at Onana. A nice move from Brighton who should benefit in attack as the game becomes more stretched.
1:41PM
53 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 0
The rain is becoming heavier now, you think this would favour the attackers if they can zip some balls across the box and towards the goalkeepers. Easier said that done so far.
So nearly two for Brighton! Pedro does superbly to break free of the United midfield and is bearing down on their defence. He slips in Milner making the run in behind and the veteran manages to get a left-footed effort past Onana but it doesn’t have the pace to reach the goal before Dalot can slide in to clear.
1:38PM
50 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 0
Garnacho and De Ligt have already been sent out for warm-ups. The defender’s at a slightly more intense level.
United enjoy some comfortable possession before Milner brings down Dalot with a rogue arm after the defender had dinked it over his head. Brighton will be more than pleased for United to pass it round the back.
1:34PM
46 mins: Brighton 1 Manchester United 0
Brighton get us underway for the second period kicking from right to left. No changes for the home side at the break.
An early chance for Brighton as they go immediately on the attack. Milner is found on the edge of the box and looks to curl one into the top right corner but it is just high and wide.
1:32PM
Zirkzee on at half-time
Man United’s matchwinner from their opening day victory over Fulham Joshua Zirkzee has been introduced at the interval in place of Mason Mount. Can he replicate his Old Trafford heroics?
1:31PM
Happy days for Hurzeler
Fabian Hurzeler has managed three halves of Premier League football and his seen his team score in each and concede in none.
