Stung by the words of Ralf Rangnick, Cristiano Ronaldo made Manchester United resurface against a good Brighton, which put the ‘red devils’ in trouble in a first half where David De Gea was savior. “I should score more goals, it’s obvious,” said the United coach about the Portuguese and he vindicated himself. He had gone five games without a goal, but against Brighton he ended his drought and gave Old Trafford three golden points to climb to fourth place. Objective accomplished.
Manchester United
20
Brighton
Man United: De Gea; Dalot, Lindelöf, Maguire, Shaw; Mctominay, Fred (Pogba, 73 ‘); Sancho (Telles, 80 ‘), Bruno Fernandes, Elanga (Rashford, 79’); Ronaldo
Brighton: Sánchez; Veltman, Dunk, Webster, Cucurella; Moder, Mac Allister, Bissouma, Gross (Alzate, 60 ‘); Maupay (Welbeck, 70 ‘), Trossard (Lamptey, 60’)
Goals: 1-0 Ronaldo (51′), 2-0 Bruno Fernandes (97′)
Referee: Peter Bankes. Roja a Dunk (52′). Amarillas a Bruno Fernandes (54′), Shaw (72′), Mac Allister (85′), Mctominay (95′)
Spectators: Some 74,000 at Old Trafford
see game file
The defeat was too great a punishment for Brighton’s good game. Graham Potter’s men knew how to exploit the doubts of United, who had a hard time throughout the first half. Only De Gea seemed up to the task, making worthwhile saves to sustain Rangnick’s team.
Moder tested it early on by sneaking into the area, but the clearest came as half-time approached, with the United goalkeeper flying in to deflect the Brighton striker’s header with a miraculous hand.
Intermission sat well with United, who wanted to press higher, a circumstance that would be decisive in the future of the match. The pressure forced Bissouma’s error and Cristiano penalized by nailing the ball into Robert Sánchez’s goal.
Right after, the VAR intervened so that the referee expelled Dunk, who, under pressure, lost the ball and had no choice but to bring down Elanga. There ended much of Brighton’s match, which however came ‘alive’ at the end of the match.
United had great chances to kill off, but failed against Robert Sánchez and almost paid for it when Welbeck also didn’t have the aim to equalize in stoppage time.
If Bruno Fernandes closed the match at the last second.