Man Utd news: Brighton bury dismal Red Devils at Old Trafford
Brighton comfortably saw off a dismal Manchester United side 3-1 at Old Trafford on Sunday to continue the Seagulls’ great recent record against the Red Devils.
After impressive performances against Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal were tempered somewhat by abject losses to Wolves, Newcastle, and Bournemouth, United would have been hoping to build some momentum against Fabian Hurzeler’s mid-table team.
It was also a deeply poignant day as the Theatre of Dreams honoured the memory of United legend Denis Law, who tragically passed away on Friday.
Sports News Blitz writer Robert Bore offers some thoughts on yet another damaging loss for Ruben Amorim and his merry men.
Remembering Denis Law
Regardless of the end result, it was a day when Old Trafford honoured the original king.
The two sides were bagpiped onto the pitch following the sad death this week of the final member of United's famed Holy Trinity, Denis Law.
A swashbuckling hero of glories from yesteryear, immortalised alongside George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton with a statue outside the Theatre of Dreams, Law was Sir Alex Ferguson's favourite player.
He was, in every sense, a hero and a true legend.
With Law off to reunite with his old pals, many hoped that the players would put on a show in his honour.
Alas, Amad Diallo and Bruno Fernandes aside, they did not get the memo.
Brighton take the lead after good start
In the end, the only show on display was a sh*tshow and it started early.
Brighton frontman Joao Pedro got himself in and hammered the ball goalwards where Andre Onana pushed it out to Danny Welbeck, but the former United star thankfully could do nothing with it.
It was a warning not heeded as the Seagulls went ahead soon after.
Carlos Baleba launched a long ball over the top for Karel Mitoma, who sat primed off Noussair Mazraoui's shoulder.
The Japanese international’s first touch was exquisite as he ran with the ball before unselfishly squaring for Yankuba Minteh to sweep home the opener.
It was devastating football from the visitors.
Going into the clash, Brighton had won seven of their 15 games against United and racked up the highest win percentage of anyone versus the Red Devils since Sky decided they invented football in 1992.
And considering that there had never been a draw between the two sides in the Premier League era, either Brighton were on their way to making it three wins in a row at Old Trafford or United were going to have to sort their sh*t out against their bogey side.
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United equalise through Fernandes
To their credit, United started to grow into the game after falling behind.
Minteh hacked down Diogo Dalot, back from suspension, but play was waved on by referee Peter Bankes, who looked like he was trying to emulate Andrew Madley's inept performance at the Emirates a week earlier.
Amad and Kobbie Mainoo then combined down the right to great effect, setting up Mazraoui to cut back for Fernandes who should have done better.
The breakthrough eventually came when the ball broke for Joshua Zirkzee on the edge of the box and Baleba got a little too involved with the Dutchman, resulting in a penalty for United.
After the green light was given by VAR, Fernandes held his nerve to send Bart Verbruggen the wrong way and level things up for the hosts.
The game drifted from there and seemed to be petering out towards half-time when Minteh and Welbeck combined well to force Dalot into a block.
Pedro subsequently appealed unsuccessfully for a penalty as the first half came to a lively end.
A quick glance at the half-time scores elsewhere showed that Nottingham Forest were three goals to the good at home to a Southampton side who had looked like Brazil for the majority of their visit to Old Trafford on Thursday night. Hmm.
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Mitoma puts Seagulls back in the lead
Diallo cracked the first shot in anger after the restart, but Brighton had the ball in the back of the net a few minutes later.
It was scrappy yet lethal as United failed to deal with an innocuous free-kick that eventually fell for Pedro to smash home.
Luckily for the hosts, Jan Paul van Hecke was ruled to have fouled Dalot in the chaos, and the goal was chalked off.
Sadly, the reprieve did not last long.
Yasin Ayari drove through United's midfield before Minteh delivered a sublime ball to the far post where Mitoma slid in to score.
To be honest, having dominated the opening 15 minutes of the second half, a second goal was no less than Brighton deserved.
Amorim went for the dice, throwing on Alejandro Garnacho and Toby Collyer for Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte, the latter on his customary yellow card at that point.
Brighton then won a corner to set off the 'we cannot defend corners' sirens for the hosts.
It went nowhere, much to the home fans’ relief, leading to Van Hecke throwing himself into the back of the net after Onana had stood on his toes.
All sides are the same, particularly in the Premier League, but the histrionics from players these days really is both tiring and embarrassing in equal measure.
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Comeback hopes extinguished by Onana howler
With more than enough time left on the clock, United went in search of an equaliser but were struggling to create anything of note.
That was until Onana decided to take matters into his own hands.
Ayari’s low cross behind the defence was somehow spilled by the Cameroonian at the feet of substitute Georginio Rutter, who could not believe his luck and duly stepped around the hapless ‘keeper to make it 3-1.
If Amorim had rolled a double six to get out of jail on Thursday, then he would need a double seven to get out of this one.
The Portuguese turned to Rasmus Hojlund and Antony as the visiting fans’ celebrations drowned out the buzz of discontent from the home crowd.
It was not to be, however, and now more questions must be asked of this United side.
Aside from the odd battling performance against a City, Liverpool or Arsenal, the Red Devils seem incapable of raising their game against so-called lesser opposition.
As the man in charge, Amorim must find the answers to that conundrum fast, otherwise his team might just be squirming for safety come May.
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