Manchester United suffered their sixth home defeat of the Premier League season against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
Yankuba Minteh gave the visitors an early lead, but Bruno Fernandes’ penalty midway through the first half seemed to provide the platform United needed to go on and secure all three points.
However, in a chaotic second half, Kaoru Mitoma hit the back post, before a huge blunder from goalkeeper Andre Onana gave Georginio Rutter a third goal in a 3-1 win.
How the match unfolded
It took Brighton just four minutes to open the scoring. Carlos Baleba’s brilliant long ball over the top sent Kaoru Mitoma through and the Japanese international unselfishly slotted home Minteh.
United quickly took control of possession and the likes of Amad Diallo and Diogo Dalot had a few dangerous moments on the wings, before Bruno Fernandes smashed the ball home from the edge of the box.
Two penalties came and went before United finally got a spot-kick the third time they asked. Brighton caught the home press and Baleba eventually pulled Joshua Zirkzee to the ground and Fernandes made no mistake from 12 yards to deservedly equalise.
Amad looked set to make it two goals when he rounded Bart Verbruggen, but the young forward narrowed the corner for himself and was unable to give United an attacking lead.
As in the first half, Brighton hit the net early in the second. A bit of pinball in the penalty area saw the ball fall to the feet of an unsuspecting Joao Pedro who, realizing what was really going on, flicked the ball away from the advancing Andre Onana. VAR reviewed the video and noticed a foul by Jan Paul van Hecke on Dalot, which is why the goal was disallowed.
However, there will be no saving United on the hour mark. Minteh’s cross fell right at the back post, where Mitoma had to stretch to hit the post.
Rutter got a chance to make it three with 15 minutes left after a big mistake by Onana. The United stopper somehow spilled a routine cross into the box and the Brighton substitute could hardly believe his luck when he hit an empty net.
See player ratings for Man Utd 1-3 Brighton here.
United they were good in the first half and responded well to the first setback, but when Brighton actually took control of proceedings in the second half, the Red Devils clearly lost focus.
They were lucky to avoid falling behind after Joao Pedro’s disallowed goal, but Brighton kept coming and their momentum counted 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 hopes of a revival of optimism. Ruben Amorim must come up with a solution to this mental problem.
Deployed here as an attacking midfielder, Amad continued to try to do as much as possible to help the team, his defensive work catching the eye as much as anything he did with the ball at his feet.
It was his high pressure that led to a penalty, before which he saw two shouts as he waved, and there were several moments where Amad could be found helping his full-back at the other end of the pitch.
Moving forward, Amad was lively. He caused plenty of problems down the right wing and looked as likely as anyone in red to find a goal from open play.
There was simply no need for United to concede a third here. The cross in Onan was slow, tame, and a thing he should have caught with his eyes closed, and yet he somehow spilled it into the worst imaginable position.
Mistakes are part of football – of course they are – but it was too much of a habit of Onana’s during his time in England and United are in no position to trust a goalkeeper capable of such chaotic moments.
Expect to see a goalkeeper added transfer wish list in 2025. There’s only so much Amorim can handle.
Few who watched Baleba ever doubted his ability on the ball. That was clear here from the first minute, when his excellent long ball put Mitoma in the back and opened the scoring. Truly sensational stuff.
But what the young midfielder needs to work on is concentration and composure. His penchant for giving away penalties led to him conceding the penalty from which United equalized to Zirkzee. One of those moments that he just has to shake off his game.
To his credit, Baleba then faced the challenge of returning his side to supremacy. His recovery of the ball was excellent and United just couldn’t keep up with him. Technically he looks ready for a big move, but he could use a bit more time to develop his mentality at Brighton.
READ THE LATEST PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS, RUMORS AND GOSSIP
