Manchester United half time jeers were music to Brighton ears
Obviously, the final score at Old Trafford where Brighton lost 2-0 to Manchester United was disappointing. But there was plenty of positive elements from what the Seagulls did at the Theatre of Dreams and the reaction it drew from the home crowd.
In the first half, Brighton restricted the Red Devils to just 40 percent possession and only one shot on Robert Sanchez’s goal.
If you did not know which team represented the 20 times champions of England and which one was a club who were playing in League One 11 years ago, then you would have thought it the Seagulls who had spent all their existence fighting for and winning trophies.
This led to Manchester United fans jeering their players off at half time. Who of Brighton supporters ever thought they would see the day that their team played so well in a Premier League game at Old Trafford as to cause United to be booed from the pitch? It is an example of the job being done by Graham Potter.
Actually, one United player was spared the jeers – David De Gea. Without their goalkeeper, the Red Devils would have been losing before half time and those boos for Cristiano Ronaldo and co would have been even louder.
Brighton were good in last season’s Old Trafford game where they lost 2-1. This year may have been a more convincing defeat, but it was also a more convincing Seagulls performance.
The opposition do not matter to Potter these days, Brighton play in their aggressive way no matter who they are against.
For 45 minutes, they dominated against a cynical Manchester United. The Seagulls kept the ball at their feet and United were forced into that one strike.
De Gea was the protagonist of the match. His highlight was the 39th minute amazing save from a Jakub Moder header.
Observe the chance carefully and you notice four Brighton players in the United area. The desire to attack from Potter was there for all to see.
De Gea’s brilliance is not new. He is the main reason why United are fourth in the table, making wonder saves every week. In the six matches that Ronaldo did not score, De Gea kept earning his team draws.
So if De Gea was absent or United did not have the best goalkeeper in the Premier League, Brighton would have written history with their first ever win at Old Trafford.
They deserved to and that Seagulls fans were disappointed by the final score is another sign of the great season Brighton are having under Potter. How many other teams feel wronged when they lose to United away?
Brighton continue to grow and the players and manager should be proud. In my country Greece, the final score is the only thing that counts and not the performance.
English fans are different. Brighton supporters knew that if a team had the right to lead in this game, it was theirs.
The fact that De Gea was the only United player saved from the disapproval of their fans at half time is a big achievement for the Seagulls, despite the final score.
Dimitris Manakos @dimitris_manakos
