Manchester United capitalized on their recent momentum by beating Brighton at Old Trafford as Mateus Cunha scored his first club goal in a frantic and somewhat controversial 4-2 victory.
Ruben Amorim’s side appear to be one of the opposing fortunes, as a torrid start to this season has given way to a particularly productive recent spell, with three wins on the rotation to put them, at least temporarily, into the top four.
Manchester United have lost six of their last seven league games against Brighton and were lucky at times in the first half, requiring some wasteful finishing from Danny Welbeck to pave the way for two goals in 10 minutes, scored by Cunha and Casemiro. The opening was sumptuous, the second over a sharp turn much luckier.
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Mateus Cunha scores his first goal for Manchester United after curling the ball into the far post.
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Kazemir’s shot from the edge of the penalty area takes away a big shot from Jasin Ajari.
Bruno Fernandes should have made it three before Brian Mbeumo did so, firing a devilishly clever shot through the legs of Lewis Dunk, despite Luke Shaw’s apparent foul on Georginio Rutter earlier on. And that wasn’t the only decision under scrutiny that night.
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Replays showed that Luke Shaw pulled Georginio Rutter’s shirt, but VAR deemed it not enough to overturn Brian Mbeum’s goal.
Neither referee Anthony Taylor nor VAR awarded Amado a penalty when it was tackled by Maxime De Kuyper in the first half, as the defender allegedly “played the ball”, while Patrick Dorgu was only booked for a last-ditch foul on Yancub Minteh – although the forward probably lost control of possession when on the line.
The drama didn’t stop there. Welbeck made his presence felt recently when he curled a free-kick past Sene Lamens to set him free for a second straight clean sheet, before Charalampos Kostoulas came off the bench to force what looked like a needless stretch.
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Brian Mbeumo makes it 4-2 for Manchester United against Brighton and finishes this penalty kick decisively.
Mbeumo, however, had other ideas, finding the net in the 96th minute with an emphatic finish to round off a crazy final, with Gary Neville praising Amorimo for his “best and most important week in the business”.
Amorim’s best week in the business
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Gary Neville believes this week has been Ruben Amorim’s best week in the job at Manchester United after coming under huge pressure.
ski sports Gary Neville at Old Trafford:
“The narrative coming into this game was that Manchester United couldn’t take a step back after what happened at Anfield last week and a win today was absolutely crucial.”
“I think this has been Ruben Amorim’s best and most important week in the business. It gives him some time.”
“I’m not saying he’s off the pitch, but Manchester United are top of the league there and that certainly takes a lot of pressure off him.
The pairing of Mbeum and Kunja is finally paying off
Kunja celebrates his first goal for Manchester United
Analysis of ski sports Laura Hunter at Old Trafford:
Only Manchester United can comprehensively beat a team while at the same time looking like they survived a big scare. This was definitely a banana skin moment. United’s recent record against Brighton is abysmal and it’s a game that always causes drama. This latest installment followed a similar trend.
Just when United pull you in, Old Trafford, bouncing with unbridled jubilation at 2-0 up, drop you like a sack of bricks. It was easy to be charmed by the first half performance, but the second half proved that this fragile side was far from flawless. How can I make things look so easy and so hard at the same time? It’s art.
Until Brian Mbeumo scored the fourth in stoppage time, there was a sense of foreboding on the terraces. You could feel the atmosphere change. Of the four big chances the hosts created, three were missed. And yet they scored four goals.
That’s what Ruben Amorim meant when he emphasized at his press conference that this year’s squad has players who “fit in style.” He talks about the quality of Kunja and Mbeum. Manchester United’s new match winner brand.
Without them, this is still an average side trying to find its way.
Amorim stresses importance of ‘new confidence’
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Ruben Amorim has picked apart Brian Mbeum’s performance in Manchester United’s 4-2 win over Brighton in the Premier League, claiming he was
Man Utd boss Reuben Amorim:
“The performance was important. We played different games at different times. It wouldn’t be Manchester United without a little bit of suffering.
“The best game we played (this season) was against Arsenal, but when you have a different spirit, we are a bit more free in the game. We have a different confidence.
“I never had that sense of shame about not winning games, I felt (Sir) Jim (Ratcliffe) always believed, but to face the fans was difficult at that moment. It’s so difficult in football, everything can change in a minute.”
“We thrive in bad moments and (learn) to react in a different way. It feels with the team. Let’s enjoy it, but the urgency of this can change has to be there.”
“The team is playing much better compared to last season. We have players who are more suited to this type of style. I like it more today than last week (beating Liverpool), it was more complete.”
Hurzeler: Their goals were gifts
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler:
“It’s easy to sum it up. Too many easy mistakes. We gave the ball away too easily, you can’t win a game like this. We had control and good actions, always created danger, but in the end it’s easy mistakes. (the goals are) like four gifts.
“United pressed well, but we have to do the small margins properly. We weren’t at the highest level and then we make mistakes. When we were in structure, we didn’t give many chances, but they were just mistakes. We decided that the game ended in a negative way. The execution was not good enough.”
Speaking about the difference in Manchester United’s threat from last year to now, Hurzeler said: “Much more intense, more compact and defending forward. Even more individual quality – money well spent.”
Commenting on the referee’s performance, he added: “I will never make the referee responsible for our losses. We have to improve him. We can’t lose the ball so easily.”