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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer became the first United manager to win six games in a row after his side's victory against Spurs last time out. The Red Devils were sixth in league with a chance to go fifth for the time being. However, when these two sides met earlier in the season, Brighton came out as 3-2 winners which made this encounter a rather must-win for United.
The home side largely dominated the first half with Brighton relying mostly on set pieces to hit United on the counter. As usual, Pogba and Rashford looked lively with the former scoring from a penalty to give United the lead. After the goal, Brighton had a bright spell of themselves with both the fullbacks marauding forward on numerous occasions.
However, with the quality United got and the threat they possessed, it was just a matter of time before Marcus Rashford came up with a moment of brilliance to double the lead before half time. The England International has now scored four goals in four games for Manchester United.
In the second half, United had quite a few chances to extend their lead but failed to keep the shots on target. However, against the run of play, Chris Hughton's side pulled one back but could not go on to get the equalizer. The victory took United above Arsenal for the time being and kept their unbeaten run going under the caretaker manager.
Here are the Manchester United Player ratings.
David De Gea - 7/10
Brighton created few half chances in the first half but nothing to trouble the Spaniard. However, David got beaten in the second half for Brighton's only goal of the day.
Diego Dalot - 6.5/10
Dalot put up a decent performance as a makeshift left-back in the absence of Luke Shaw. He was up against March down the right-hand side, and the Portuguese managed to make some crucial interventions to stop the winger from going forward. He even provided the assist for Rashford's goal in the first half.
Phil Jones - 7/10
The England International had a relatively better performance today than he had against Tottenham last time out. Jones had numerous aerial battles with Murray up front, and the defender won most of it.
Victor Lindelof - 7/10
Victor has been United's number one central defender lately, and today he always covered up for Jones in the heart of the defense. At one point in the first half, the Swede played a long downfield ball which fell to Martial, but the Brighton goalkeeper denied the Frenchman to find the back of the net.
Ashley Young - 7.5/10
United's biggest threat came down the right-hand side with Young continually moving forward and provided some dangerous crosses which the Brighton defenders dealt relatively well for their good. He was defensively solid as well thwarting much of Brighton's attack down that side.
Nemanja Matic - 7.5/10
Matic has been a different player since Ole took charge of Manchester United. He got criticized earlier in the season for his backward and sideways passing. However, since the change in managerial position, the Serbian has looked to play forward whenever he got an opportunity. He was defensively sharp as well winning most of the aerial duels and intercepted quite a few Brighton's attack.
Ander Herrera - 7/10
Herrera complimented Matic perfectly and kept things moving in the center of the park. He always looked to spread the play and even move forward to provide numbers in attack.
Paul Pogba - 7.5/10
Paul looked sharp since the first minute and deservedly got his goal after some clever footwork forced the Brighton's left back to foul him inside the box.
Antony Martial - 7/10
The Frenchman would feel unlucky not to get a goal today against Brighton. He had a good chance in the first half, but the Brighton's goalkeeper was equal to his task. In the second half even, Martial had a couple of half chances, but all his shots went inches wide off the post.
Jesse Lingard - 6.5/10
He didn't quite make the same impact as he would have liked, but Lingard worked hard and covered a lot of ground including tracking back quite a few times to stop crosses down the left-hand side for Brighton. Jesse was eventually substituted later in the second half.
Marcus Rashford - 8/10
An individual moment of brilliance from Marcus Rashford in the first half doubled the lead for Manchester United. He was lively in the second half as well including a beautiful pass to Lingard which Jesse could not keep on target. Rashford was by far United's best player against Brighton today.
Substitutes
Mata & Lukaku - 6/10
Both came late at a time when Brighton was pressing for the equalizer and could hardly contribute anything in the attack.
