Manchester United fell to their sixth home defeat of the Premier League season on Sunday at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Yankuba Minteh fired the visitors ahead early on, but a Bruno Fernandes penalty midway through the first half looked to have provided the platform United needed to go on and secure all three points.
However, a chaotic second half saw Kaoru Mitoma tap home at the back post, before a huge mistake from goalkeeper Andre Onana gifted Georginio Rutter a third in an eventful 3-1 victory.
How the game unfolded
It took Brighton just four minutes 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 quickly took control of possession and the likes of Amad Diallo and Diogo Dalot had some dangerous moments down the wings, before Bruno Fernandes scuffed wide from the edge of the penalty area.
Two penalty shouts came and went before United were finally given a spot-kick at the third time of asking. Brighton were caught out by the home side’s press and Baleba ended up dragging Joshua Zirkzee down to the ground, and Fernandes made no mistake from 12 yards to deservedly tie things up.
Amad looked like making it two when he rounded Bart Verbruggen, but the young forward narrowed the angle for himself and could not put United in front heading into the break.
As they did in the first half, Brighton found the back of the net early in the second. A bit of penalty box pinball saw the ball fall at the feet of the fortuitous Joao Pedro who, when he realised what was actually happening, thumped the ball beyond the advancing Andre Onana. VAR reviewed the footage and spotted Jan Paul van Hecke’s foul on Dalot, which saw the goal ruled out.
There would be no rescuing United on the hour mark, however. Minteh’s cross landed right at the back post, where Mitoma had to stretch to tap into the back of the net.
Rutter was gifted the chance to make it three with 15 minutes to go after a huge error from Onana. The United stopper somehow spilled a routine cross into the box and the Brighton substitute could hardly believe his luck as he tapped into an empty net.
Check out the player ratings from Man Utd 1-3 Brighton here.
United were good in the first half and responded well to the first setback, but once Brighton actually wrestled control of proceedings in the second half, the Red Devils clearly lost their focus.
They were fortunate to avoid going behind to Joao Pedro’s disallowed goal, but Brighton kept coming and made their momentum count when Mitoma popped up at the back post to re-establish the Seagulls’ lead.
Things got slow and predictable for United as they became too easy to play against, before Onana’s mistake put an end to any hopes of a resurgence of optimism. Ruben Amorim needs to figure out a solution to this mentality issue.
Deployed as an attacking midfielder here, Amad still made a point of trying 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 press that led to the penalty, before which he’d seen two shouts of his own waved away, and there were several moments in which Amad could be found helping his full-back at the other end of the pitch.
Going forwards, Amad was his lively self. He caused plenty of problems down the right wing and looked as likely as anybody in red to find the back of the net from open play.
There was simply no need for United to concede a third here. The cross into Onana was slow, tame and the sort of thing he should be catching with his eyes closed, and yet somehow he spilled it into the worst position imaginable.
Mistakes are a part of football – of course they are – but this has been too much of a habit from Onana during his time in England and United are not in the 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’s only so much of this Amorim will be able to take.
Few who have watched Baleba have ever questioned his ability with the ball. That was clear here from the first minute, with his delightful long ball setting Mitoma in behind to open the scoring. Truly sensational stuff.
However, what the young midfielder needs to work on is his concentration and composure. His penchant for giving away penalties saw him clothesline Zirkzee concede the penalty from which United equalised. One of those moments he simply must shake from his game.
To his credit, Baleba then rose to the challenge of dragging his side back into the ascendancy. His ball recovery was sublime and United simply couldn’t keep up. He looks technically ready for a big move but perhaps could benefit with a little more time to develop his mentality at Brighton.
