MAN UTD 1, BRIGHTON 2
It may have been a new era under Erik ten Hag, but it was the same old Manchester United as they were against put to the sword by Pascal Gross.
Little appeared to have changed under the Dutchman as Brighton recorded their first-ever victory at Old Trafford where the new season kicked off with yet another protest against owners, the Glazer family.
Two goals from Pascal Gross – six of his 19 Premier League strikes have been against United and three times he has scored the winner against them – made it a miserable first competitive game for ten Hag.
And they didn’t even have the consolation of finding the net as their goal came from Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister who found his own net.
It was a desperately poor performance from United as nothing had appeared to have changed under the new manager – there was certainly no new identity.
There was further delight for the visiting fans who were still gloating about beating United 4-0 at the Amex Stadium at the end of last season.
While there was a new-found optimism among fans pre-match, the off-the-field unrest continued.
Another protest was staged, beginning at MediaCity and proceeding to Old Trafford where it grew to about 1,000 and forced the closure of the club’s megastore.
Co-chair Avram Glazer was present inside the ground where there were some protests, but not of the scale of those outside.
Embed from Getty ImagesTen Hag called for patience, declaring: “We should have done better, but know it will not come overnight.
“After a good start, we had a setback and dropped down a level and belief, made mistakes, and were punished for them.
“We came out in the second half and had belief which was good to see. We have to deal with setbacks and have belief because we have good players which they have proved many times in the past and they will prove again in the future.
“Clearly we are not happy with this game, and we must learn our lessons and move forward together.”
Ten Hag added Cristiano Ronaldo’s lack of training was why he didn’t start, explaining he wasn’t up to speed to play 90 minutes.
United captain Harry Maguire added: “We went into the game positive, we had a good pre-season, and it was the worst possible start to be 2-0 down at half-time at Old Trafford, not good enough. We got a goal back, but we huffed and puffed a bit. It was a nightmare start to be 2-0 down at half-time.
“We spoke about getting the next goal [at half-time]. I think in the second half you saw good parts to our game, but, overall, we didn’t do enough. We had a lot of pressure and a lot of ball, but we need to be a bit more creative, and we need to improve on that
“It’s something we need to address, or it’ll keep happening. The first goal felt like a big blow to all 11 of our players.
“Everyone knew the task. We had a bad season last season. We’ve got a new manager trying to put his philosophy on the team but, when we don’t get it right, we look far too open.”
Brighton manager Graham Potter said: “It was a great performance and a deserved win. A great way to start.
“I thought we had an idea of how to attack and when we could we tried to press and put them under pressure. We were positive, brave and the boys gave everything. Our performance in the first half was really strong.
“I’ve not seen it back, but the guys seem to think there was a chance of it [a penalty]. We can’t complain too much, we had enough of them on our side today. They are going to put you under pressure. We had chances to attack better and make it three but we were able to stick in there at the end. It’s a nice start for us.
“It’s not easy [losing Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella] because as the transfer fees suggests they were two really key players. In any team you miss good players.
“We have got a good group, they are ambitious, they are not perfect, but they give everything and when you’re a coach it gives you a chance.”
Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez were handed Premier League debuts for Unitedwhile Ronaldo was on the bench.
Jadon Sancho and Luke Shaw also started after recovering from illness. As expected, Anthony Martial missed out with a hamstring strain.
Brighton named Chelsea loanee Levi Colwill on the bench, but Mac Allister started after shaking off a recent groin issue.
There was almost the worst possible start for ten Hag when Brighton had a great chance to take the lead after only 14 seconds.
Diogo Dalot was caught out as Leandro Trossard burst into the penalty area before firing into the side netting.
United’s first chance came in the sixth minute when Scott McTominay cut the ball back to Bruno Fernandes who blazed over when he ought to have hit the target.
After an uninspiring opening from the Reds, Brighton took the lead after half an hour.
Trossard released Welbeck on the left and the former United striker fired over a low ball across the face of goal for Gross to convert from six yards with ease.
And it got worse for United when the Seagulls doubled their lead nine minutes later.
A sweeping move from left to right saw Solly March’s shot from the right of the box parried by goalkeeper David De Gea into the path of Gross who fired high into the roof of the net from inside the six-yard box.
Welbeck had a free header as United started the second half as they finished the opening period.
United needed a spark and Ronaldo was summoned as a 53rd minute replacement for Fred.
There was a little flicker from the Reds as Rashford was superbly denied by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, though he was flagged for a questionable offside.
Christian Eriksen’s drive was parried by Sanchez with Joel Veltman putting the ball out for a corner as Rashford was ready to strike.
But from Fernandes’ resulting corner, United found the net, albeit an bizarre effort as the ball struck Dalot on the back and headed towards goal Mac Allister could only help it into his own net.
There was a lengthy VAR check for a possible handball by Dalot and offside against Maguire.
Dalot then had a shot parried by Sanchez as United suddenly sensed they could get something from the game in which they had been second best throughout.
United made a second change with 12 minutes left, Donny van de Beek replacing Scott McTominay.
And in the 89th minute they made their three final changes as Tyrell Malacia, Anthony Elanga and Alejandro Garnacho replaced Luke Shaw, Jadon Sancho and Fernandes.
But as much as they huffed, United never seriously threatened the Brighton goal in the five minutes of added time.