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Manchester United travelled to Amex Stadium to face Brighton on Saturday. Interestingly, Sanchez did not travel with the squad, sparking rumours about dissent. However, it was later clarified that the Chilean was injured in training and was not risked.
In the absence of Sanchez, Mourinho opted for Martial from the left. Lukaku replaced the ineffective Rashford and Young started in place of Darmian. Those were the 3 changes from the team that started the game against Leicester.
Manchester United XI: De Gea; Young, Bailly, Lindelof, Shaw; Fred, Pereira, Pogba; Mata, Lukaku, Martial.
Chris Hughton opted for Montoya in place of his injured skipper Bruno and brought in Bong in place of Bernardo at left-back, in the only 2 changes from the side that were beaten by Watford last weekend.
Brighton & Hove Albion XI: Ryan; Montoya, Duffy, Dunk, Bong; Knockaert, Stephens, Propper, March; Grob; Murray.
Brighton showed right from the start that they were full of intent and desire. There was a lot of commitment from the players and United never looked alive. Brighton deservedly took the lead when Murray stunned United in the 25th minute. 2 minutes later, they were 2-0 up when Duffy scored.
United did get a goal back when Luke Shaw’s deflected shot was turned in by Lukaku in the 34th minute. It seemed that United would start a comeback, but Bailly conceded a penalty just a minute before the half time break and Gross scored from the spot to make it 3-1.
In the first half, United had 4 shots, with only 1 of them on target. On the contrary, Brighton had 6 shots, with 3 of them on target. United had 62% possession, attempted 264 passes with 87% accuracy, but in reality, they were very poor.
At the break, Mourinho brought in Rashford and Lingard in place of Mata and Pereira. He later brought in Fellaini for Martial. But things hardly changed, not until the 94th minute when United won a penalty and Pogba scored to make the result a little more respectable.
Brighton and Hove Albion were the deserved winners of the game and we look at 5 areas where United lost the game to Brighton.
#5 Pressing from Brighton
Right from the start, Brighton pressed as if their lives depended on it. They gave United no room, they gave United no time on the ball and seemed so full of running that it almost stunned the Red Devils. United were slow on the counter and Brighton capitalized.
Pogba, Fred and Pereira were all caught on the ball, as were the rest of the United team. Shaw was one of United’s better players on the pitch and even he was constantly pressed by Knockaert. As a result of their intense pressing, Brighton caused United to lose the ball quite often.
United had no answer to Brighton’s pressing in the first half and even after the changes in the second half, Brighton’s pressing kept United in the backfoot. It was from their pressing and their high-intensity gameplay that Brighton found their goals
#4 Sloppy play from United players
The Red Devils were very poor individually. Martial and Mata were especially poor, with Mata’s defensive frailties exposed by March and Bong. Neither Mata nor Martial had any significant contributions to the game. Martial, on the other hand, tried to do all on his own and did not help out in the defence at all. Apart from the goal, Lukaku contributed little to the game and even Pogba was slow, getting caught on possession many times.
United lacked the desire to make things happen, they constantly tried to be too clever, tried to be inventive in their passing and instead, ended up making things too complicated. Bailly, who is normally assured and composed, was a shadow of himself and even after conceding the penalty, lived dangerously, taking risks and almost getting caught out.
Lindelof was caught off guard for the Murray goal and showed signs of nervousness that haunted him last season. United simply did not have the quality on display that is normally associated with their team and that cost them the game.
#3 Murray and Brighton bullied the United defence
Murray bullied both Bailly and Lindelof with his pressing. He even jogged to the right and helped March bully Young. United lacked the strength and concentration to counter his presence. And even in the set pieces, United were poor. Pogba was especially culpable for the second goal when he allowed Duffy to run away from him and have the time and audacity to set himself up before scoring.
Lindelof was easily brushed aside by Murray for the first goal. And Bailly made a really poor decision that led to the penalty. Ashley Young looked vulnerable at right back as well and Gross cleverly used the space between the United defence to make things work for Brighton. The visitors made too many mistakes and were punished by an efficient Brighton side who capitalized on those mistakes.
#2 United were poor in wide areas
Manchester United started with Martial in place of the injured Sanchez and Young came in for Darmian. Neither of them did themselves any favour. Martial started the game strong, tried to make things happen, but faded out in a while.
He was caught out by Brighton’s pressing and looked uneasy with players hanging around his shoulder. To make matters worse, he and Shaw kept getting in each other's ways. Shaw was United’s best player against Leicester but had little to do other than defend in this game, because Martial gave him no room. The one goal United did score, was sourced from him though.
Young was exposed continuously, Mata had a poor game. Things were so bad that Lukaku had to repeatedly come to the right wing to receive the ball, leaving the centre empty and without a target.
Even when Rashford came on, United did not utilize the wings. United missed Sanchez in the wings, they missed his ability to hold the ball, spray passes, take up clever positions. They missed the Chilean’s ability to unleash Luke Shaw. Poor wing-play cost United the game in the end.
#1 United lost the midfield battle
Jose Mourinho's side started with 3 in the midfield and from the team sheet, it looked like they would dominate the two of Brighton. In reality though, Stephens and Propper nullified Pereira, Fred and Pogba as if there weren’t even playing!
United midfield was guilty of over-complicating things. Pereira, Fred, Pogba, all tried the odd tricks, the cheeky passes. They ignored the easy options and went for the extravagant. Perhaps there was a hint of overconfidence in their game. On the other hand, Stephens and Propper kept it simple. They pressed and pressed and kept the ball running. They were compact in the middle.
Pereira dropped deep to sit between Bailly and Lindelof and Brighton utilized the space to their advantage. The Brighton midfielders almost left Fred and Pogba behind them and used up the area between United’s defence and midfield.
Mourinho brought in Lingard in the second half, asking Pogba to play a deeper role. He then brought in Fellaini in place of Martial, who was poor, but neither of those moves worked. By winning the midfield battle and neutralizing Paul Pogba, Brighton won the game.
