Match Review: Manchester United 2-1 Brighton

Sooner rather than later, Brighton and Hove Albion are going to shock one of the Premier League’s big six sides away from home.

It could have quite feasibly happened at Old Trafford against Manchester United. For the second weekend running, the Albion were on the wrong end of a soft penalty decision which was then followed by a piece of brilliance from Marcus Rashford. Without those two moments, it could have been a very different game.

The penalty arrived just before the half hour mark and it was another frustrating award following on from Mo Salah going down like he’d been shot under minimal contact from Pascal Gross in last week’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool.

This time, Paul Pogba was the man who took a leaf out of the Tom Daley playbook and Gaetan Bong was the player making the clumsy challenge. Yes, it probably was a foul as Bong did nudge Pogba but the way he went to ground you’d have thought he’d been hit by an Eddie Stobart lorry travelling at 80mph as opposed to getting a little shove in the back.

Would two penalties as soft as those had been awarded if the opposition were playing Watford or Burnley? Or would they have been given if it was Glenn Murray going down up the other end under a challenge from Diogo Dalot? We’ll leave you to make your own conclusions, but it’s little wonder that some supporters genuinely believe there is some sort of conspiracy among officials to favour the country’s biggest clubs when fouls as soft as those are constantly awarded in United, Liverpool and their ilk’s favour.

Pogba dusted himself down to take the penalty himself and despite David Button trying to catch the eye of the Strictly judges with some ridiculous dancing along his goal line in an attempt to put the Frenchman off, Pogba smashed the ball out of the Albion goalkeeper’s reach for 1-0.

Unfortunately, Bong being the man who made the tackle gives his haters another stick with which to beat him with. For reasons nobody can rationally explain, some sections of the Albion fan base have never taken to Bong despite the fact he rarely puts a foot wrong.

When the news of Markus Suttner’s departure to Fotuna Dusseldorf on loan broke earlier in the week, there were comments across social media saying that it should be Bong leaving the club and that Suttner should be first choice left back.

All very laughable really and highly disrespectful to a bloke who has battled back from a couple of serious injuries to play nearly 100 times during one of the most successful eras in the Albion’s history. It’s about time that certain Brighton fans got off his back and gave him the support they show to most other players.

While that opening penalty was a disappointingly soft goal to concede, there was nothing anybody could do about the second which came from Rashford just before half time.

One of the biggest mysteries about Jose Mourinho’s dismal spell in the Old Trafford hot seat was why he never really gave Rashford his full backing. The England striker is clearly one of the most talented young players in the world and he showed that with probably the best individual goal that the Albion will concede this season, collecting a pass from Dalot and completely outfoxing Gross with a delightful piece of trickery before curling into the top corner from the tightest of angles.

United had plenty of other chances, Shane Duffy heading brilliantly off the line from Rashford, Anthony Martial springing the offside trap but being denied by a fine one-handed save from Button and former-Albion loanee Jesse Lingard tapping wide when he was left free to meet a whipped Rashford cross at the back post.

As for Brighton, well we showed very little in terms of attacking threat until the final 20 minutes. Glenn Murray had a first half opportunity but he failed to get his volley even on target when left one-on-one with David De Gea after a lovely through ball from Solly March.

It was only once Antony Knockaert and Florin Andone were introduced that we really gave United something to think about. Why Andone in particular was only named among the substitutes again is mind boggling. As we said after last week’s game against Liverpool, if Chris Hughton is setting up to play on the counter then you need pace up top in order to hit the opposition quickly on the break.

Murray is slower than a Robin Reliant trying to move forwards with the handbrake still on, which means that the veteran striker really doesn’t suit such a tactical approach. Andone on the other hand will put himself about, chase and harry everything and can be a real handful will playing counter attacking football. You only have to look at his goal in the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace to see what he can bring to the party in that regard.

With Andone on the pitch, suddenly United weren’t so in control, especially once Gross pulled one back to set up a nervy last 20 minutes. It was a clever finish from the Albion’s number 13, bringing the ball down on his chest and then firing into the top corner above De Gea for his third goals in his last three games against the Red Devils.

The strike was good, but the assist from Davy Propper was even better. The Dutchman firstly took Victor Lindelöf out the game with a clever step over before bending the ball into the area with the outside of his right boot, straight into the path of Gross. If Pogba had made a pass like that, Match of the Day would’ve dedicated at least 45 minutes to just showing it over and over again on repeat and it would have become the most used GIF on Twitter of 2019 so far.

Propper was probably Brighton’s best player but there were plenty of others who shone at the Theatre of Dreams. Duffy was a one-man blocking machine again and the day when one of the big six puts in a genuine big money offer for one of him or Lewis Dunk cannot be far away. Button impressed as he continues to make a mockery out of those of us who feared that a disaster worse than a vegan BBQ would be the result of Maty Ryan’s absence with Australia in the Asian Cup.

United were hanging on slightly after Gross’ goal which tells you everything about the quality of the Albion performance, especially in the those last 20 minutes. Against opponents with millions upon million of pounds worth of talent and who were in relentless form having won every single game under Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, we were far from outclassed and were disappointed not to get a point.

What a long way we’ve come – and that first win at an Old Trafford, an Emirates Stadium or a Stamford Bridge isn’t far away. Watch this space.