Brighton win exposes Red Devils' glaring weaknesses

The same old for a frustrated Manchester United, but an exhilarating new hope at Brighton. After a summer when so much of the talk was of what might be possible at Old Trafford, a more interesting question for the Premier League might be just how high Fabian Hurzeler’s side can now go.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

Brighton 2
Welbeck (32), Pedro (90+5)

Manchester United 1
Diallo (60)

There can be no sense of this Brighton project plateauing after a victory like this, where the superb Joao Pedro scored a 95th-minute winner to raise the roof and clinch a fine 2-1 win. The defending was shambolic as three United players somehow left the scorer completely unmarked at the back post, but Brighton had more than displayed their willingness to seize it. Put more bluntly, a manager in the job for just two games still showed Erik ten Hag what to do to win it. The difference in the subs settled this game.

Hurzeler hasn’t exactly gone under the radar due to his young age at 31, but the relevance to that should be over whether it might see Brighton break their previous limits as a club. They can do more. Many will point to Brighton’s new level of expenditure. More relevant is the way they again bossed a much more expensive side. They have made a habit of this with United.

It is an illustration that United still have so much more to do as a club. They were reminded they are still only in the very early stages of this relaunch. There had been a sense of getting away with it, and maybe even that they might snatch it, after the exciting Amad Diallo claimed an equaliser and continued to threaten. Instead, in the latest in a series of confusing decisions from Ten Hag, they changed tone with the subs again after his initial subs had been so effective.