New season but the same old Manchester United’s abysmal performance. The Red Devils opened their account in a ramshackle manner as they again faced a nightmare against Brighton and Hove Albion in a 1-2 defeat. The same club where they defeated United 4-0 last season at the Amex. Erik ten Hag has got the taste of Premier League on a bitter note. Lots of work and analysis to be done and it will not be an easy task. It wasn’t the start that every fan was looking for.
Manchester United had a nervy moment in the very early stages of the match. A sloppy touch by Dalot and it was straight to Trossard who almost beat De Gea in the near post. New signing, Eriksen got the best chance to take the lead after the free kick was taken quickly in the Brighton half. A few minutes Fernandes shot was too powerful after a good cutback by McTominay.
Pascal Gross’s lead was a kind of a goal where it clearly showed United’s ball-watching mode hasn’t gone yet. They are carrying the form from where they left in the last season. Harry Maguire and Dalot simply let Welback take his position for a beautiful pass from the byline. Gross just needed to tap in as Shaw was even out of his position. Man-marking problem has not been resolved yet.
The German midfielder doubled the lead after McTominay lost possession in the midfield and then another mistake by the defenders of United. Fred was slow to react to the rebound after De Gea made a decent save to deny Solly March in the first place.
There was no intent or a positive approach from United in the 1st half. Brighton was knocking on the doors more often and it was another complete dominance in a United-Brighton match.
Manchester United tried their best in the 2nd half.
The Red Devils somehow were looking for a comeback. ETH made a few changes and brought in Ronaldo in the 60th minute. He and Rashford combined well for a good counter-attacking goal but a fabulous vigilant save from Sanchez denied the same.
Man Utd’s opening goal came in a much comical manner. A good inward delivery from the corner by Fernandes to which Sanchez failed to high claim it. Diogo Dalot tried to tap the ball in from an awkward angle but in the end, it was McAllister’s own goal in the clumsy 6-yard box.
In the last 20′ the Brighton goalkeeper had to make 2 good saves again as United’s Eriksen and Martinez went hard for the equalizer. ETH may have made a mistake in not Garner and Garnacho who would have done better in the central defensive and centre forward area respectively. Bruno’s and Martinez’s magic was completely missing in the attacking area. False 9 didn’t work last evening.
Now Manchester United will travel to the western part of London to face promising Brentford on the coming Saturday. Hoping for a comeback otherwise curtains are down for ETH’s men as Premier League has become very competitive.
