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Goalscorers: Romelu Lukaku 37'; Nemanja Matic 83;
In snowy conditions at Old Trafford, Manchester United returned to winning ways with a professional 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion to enter the semifinals of the FA Cup. Progression in the only remaining chance of silverware was the need of the hour for United as Jose and his men delivered when it mattered the most.
Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring with a fine header at the far post to give United the lead in the first half. Nemanja Matic doubled the advantage late in the second interval to guarantee United's place in the final four.
On the back of Jose Mourinho's astonishing press conference, there were a lot of talking points that emerged from the quarterfinal in Manchester. So, without further ado, let's discuss this game in further detail by looking at the five key talking points:
#5 Sergio Romero impresses once again
Chances have been hard to come by for the Argentine no.1 this season. But whenever Romero has been entrusted to do the job between the sticks, he has lived up to the expectations. Against Brighton, Romero showed great composure to keep his fourth clean sheet in as many games in the FA Cup.
He showed great reflexes to stop Lewis Dunk's header in the first half and then parried away Jurgen Locadia's long-range shot with effectivity. All in all, he made six saves on the night and his distribution was also spot on with 5 of his goal kicks being won by a United player.
Mourinho has a great alternative to David De Gea waiting in the wings who once again showed his strengths when the chance arrived.
#4 Meanwhile, Luke Shaw's downward spiral continues
Starting a game after a month, this was supposed to be a chance for redemption for the much talked about left back. But Luke Shaw could not live up to Mourinho's standards and was hooked off at the break with Ashley Young taking his place.
It was not a dire outing for the Englishman who played his part in the opening goal. But an animated Mourinho on the touchline was seen unhappy with Shaw on numerous occasions and was shouting at him to get forward more often. The manager soon lost patience and took him off at the break.
This is the fourth season for Shaw in a United shirt but it doesn't seem like the Englishman has taken a step forward in his career. With just 15 appearances this season, Shaw may well miss out on the plan to Russia this summer and also lose his place in the United roster.
#3 Baffling team selection from Brighton
Brighton's last piece of silverware came in 2011 when they won the League One and achieved direct promotion to the Championship. This season, being in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup, one would have expected the Seagulls to go all guns blazing in the cup competition.
But Chris Houghton, for some bizarre reason, kept Glenn Murray on the bench who has been in scintillating form of late. He also decided to rest no.1 custodian Matt Ryan along with Jose Izquierdo who has been a regular starter. Why didn't Brighton gave this fixture a proper go?
It's not like Brighton are currently ensued in a relegation scrap and need to focus on safety rather than on the FA Cup. The Seagulls are 12th in the league, six points away from safety. Manchester United were there for the taking after a demoralizing loss to Sevilla but sadly Brighton never changed gears to trouble the home side.
#2 Matic and Lukaku live up to the manager's praise
In an unbelievable 12 minute rant on Friday, the only people who received some words of praise from Jose Mourinho were Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku. The duo justified their manager's faith in them by scoring the goals on the night and overseeing a safe passage for United into the semis.
Matic was the creator of the first goal as he delivered a pinpoint cross to Lukaku to head home. It was the Belgian's 25th goal in all competitions. It was then the chance for the Serbian to get on the act and cap off a fine midfield display be scoring a goal late in the game.
On Friday, Mourinho had described his two summer signings as "players with a different mentality, different quality, different background, with a different status, know-how." And against Brighton, Matic and Lukaku certainly showed a winning mentality that was required on the night.
#1 United lack style but pack it with substance
After a dismal outing against Sevilla, many had predicted a statement performance from Manchester United against Brighton. The Red Devils failed to thrill but got the result that was the need of the hour. Two shots on target, two goals and with it, the dream of a silverware being kept alive by the Special One.
After the first goal, United allowed Brighton to have the ball and sat back, looking to hit them on the counter. The Seagulls had the lion share of possession in the second half with United not hitting a shot until Matic's goal in the 83rd minute.
Jose Mourinho rued the lack of speed in counter-attacks in his post-match press conference and lambasted his players for "lacking desire. This was not a performance that will help Mourinho achieve some brownie points but at the end, it got the job done and that's all matters at the moment for Manchester United.
