Manchester United fell to their sixth home defeat of the Premier League season at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
Yankuba Minteh fired the visitors early but a Bruno Fernandes penalty midway through the first half looked to have provided the platform United needed to push on and secure all three points.
However, a chaotic second half saw Kaoru Mitoma hit home at the back post, before a big mistake from goalkeeper Andre Onana gave Georginio Rutter a third 3-1 victory.
How the game developed
It took just four minutes for Brighton to open the scoring. Carlos Baleba’s delicious long ball over the top sent Kaoru Mitoma through on goal, and the Japan international unselfishly made room for Minteh to grab an open goal.
United quickly took control of possession and the likes of Amad Diallo and Diogo Dalot had dangerous moments on the wings, before Bruno Fernandes burst over 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 pressure and Baleba ended up dragging Joshua Zirkzee to the ground, and Fernandes made no mistake from 12 yards to deservedly tie things up.
Amad looked set to make it two when he rounded Bart Verbruggen, but the young forward narrowed the angle himself and was unable to put United ahead at the break.
As they did in the first half, Brighton found the back of the net early in the second. A bit of penalty pinball saw the ball fall to the feet of the fortuitous Joao Pedro who, realizing what was happening, hit the ball past the forward Andre Onana. The VAR has reviewed the images and detected Jan Paul van Hecke’s foul on Dalot, who saw the goal ruled out.
However, there would be no rescue for United in the hour mark. Minteh’s cross fell right at the back post, where Mitoma had to stretch to hit the back of the net.
Rutter had a chance to make it the third with 15 minutes left after a big mistake from Onana. The United striker somehow spilled a routine cross into the box and the Brighton substitute could hardly believe his luck as he struck into the empty net.
Check out Man Utd 1-3 Brighton player ratings here.
united they were good in the first half and responded well to the first setback, but once Brighton really struggled to control proceedings in the second half, the Red Devils clearly lost their composure.
They were lucky to avoid going behind to Joao Pedro’s disallowed goal, but Brighton kept coming and made their momentum count as Mitoma popped up at the back post to restore the Seagulls’ lead.
Things turned slow and predictable for United as it became too easy to play, before Onana’s error ended any hopes of a resurgence of optimism. Ruben Amorim must find a solution to this mindset problem.
Deployed here as an attacking midfielder, Amad still tried to do as much as possible to help the team, and his defensive work caught the eye as much as anything he did with the ball at his feet.
It was his high pressing that led to the penalty, before which he had seen two screamers of his own snuffed out, and there were several moments when Amad could be found helping his full-back at the other end of the field of play.
Going forward, Amad was his living self. He caused a lot of problems on the right wing and looked as likely as anyone in red to find the back of the net in open play.
There was simply no need for United to concede a third here. The cross to Onana was slow, tame and the kind of thing you should catch with your eyes closed, and yet somehow he spilled it into the worst position imaginable.
Mistakes are part of football – of course they are – but this has been too much of Onana’s habit during his time in England and United are in no position to trust a goalkeeper capable of experiencing such chaotic moments.
Expect to see a goalkeeper added to the transfer wish list in 2025. There’s only so much of this Amorim can take.
Few who have watched Baleba have ever questioned his ability on the ball. That was clear from the first minute, with his delicious long ball putting Mitoma behind to open the scoring. Really sensational stuff.
However, what the young midfielder needs to work on is his concentration and composure. His penchant for giving away penalties saw Zirkzee concede the penalty from which United equalised. One of those moments that you just have to shake off your game.
To his credit, Baleba rose to the challenge of dragging his side to promotion. His ball recovery was sublime and United simply couldn’t keep up. He looks technically ready for a big move, but could perhaps benefit from a bit more time to develop his mindset at Brighton.
