Manchester United lost 2-3 to Brighton & Hove Albion in the second week of the Premier League 2018/2019 match at the American Express Stadium on Sunday (8/19).
Early in the first half Brighton put pressure on Man United through Solly March and Pascal Gross took turns providing a cross to dismantle the visitors’ wall. But the Red Devils ‘back line guarded by Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof could still secure the visitors’ defense.
Man United must recognize Brighton’s lead first after Glenn Murray broke into David De Gea’s goal in the 25th minute.
Starting from Brighton’s pressure on the left side, Gaetan Bong Songo gave feedback to Solly March who immediately proceeded to Murray. Without a tight escort from Victor Lindelof, Murray easily cheated the ball into Man United’s goal.
1-0 lead Brighton to increase its attack. Brighton also added advantage two minutes after the first goal. This time it was Shane Duffy’s turn to score after receiving a pass from Antony Knochaert while utilizing the turmoil in front of Man United’s goal.
Do not want to lag behind Man United to minimize the position thanks to Romelu Lukaku’s 35th minute header using Luke Shaw’s shot against Brighton’s back line.
Before the first half ended the hosts again took the lead through the penalty spot after Brighton players were tackled by Eric Bailly in the box. Pascal Gross, who was the executor, did not have the trouble of scoring the third goal for Brighton even though his shot had hit De Gea’s foot.
In the second half Man United manager Jose Mourinho included Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford to add strength in the attack by pulling out Andreas Pereira and Juan Mata.
The 3-1 advantage made Brighton play a little in strengthening the defense. Evidently many attacks from Fred or Paul Pogba were not right on target because of the solid Brighton defense.
With piling up of Brighton players in defense, Man United had no way but to open fire both inside and outside the penalty box. As Pogba did in the 75th minute. It’s just that, Pogba kick can still be pushed over by goalkeeper Mathew Ryan.
Until the 80th minute the statistics of both teams showed Brighton had five shots with two of them on target, Man United had the same number of kicks with three on target.
Seeing Brighton playing in defense, the Red Devils should be able to fire more shots in order to break the concentration while breaking the opponent’s defense.
In injury time minutes Man United’s visitors could reduce the lag to 2-3 through Pogba’s penalty execution. The penalty was awarded after Marouane Fellaini was violated by Shane Duffy.
This defeat not only made Man United lose points, but also made Brighton repeat last season’s success by beating Jose Mourinho’s side at home with a score of 0-1.
