Premier League: Manchester United sink to third defeat of season against Brighton by 1-3
Sep 17, 2023
Manchester [UK], September 17 : Manchester United's dismal start to the Premier League season extended as they registered a 3-1 loss to Brighton on Saturday, losing three of their first five PL games of the season for the first time in 34 years.
This defeat at Old Trafford has also ended their 20-game unbeaten run at home in the Premier League.
First-time starters Rasmus Hojlund and Sergio Reguilon impressed and Marcus Rashford looked lively on left-wing. But some terrible defending wasted the efforts of these three players. Visitors did not let any chance or mistake go unpunished.
United had a promising start as Rashford was picked out well by Sergio, but the effort by the English forward was chased away by Jason Steele's feet.
Soon, Hojlund almost scored his first-ever PL goal, but could not quite reach the low pass by Rashford.
Rashford almost scored an equaliser for United but his explosive strike from range was blocked by Mahmoud Dahoud. His other solo run saw his shot ricochet off Joel Veltman's back and ping off the crossbar.
In the first half, Brighton led 1-0.
In the second half, Lisandro Martinez nor Victor Lindelof failed to intercept a pass by Tariq Lamptey, which allowed Pascal Gross to double Brighton's lead in the 53rd minute.
Another strike by Junqueira de Jesus in the 71st minute tripled the lead for Brighton.
However, in the 73rd minute, Hannibal Mejbri scored the first goal for United, who fired home into the bottom corner from 25 yards away.
Brighton managed to maintain this scoreline and won the match.
In the PL table, United is in the 13th spot, winning two, losing three and having six points. Brighton is in the fourth spot, winning four of five matches, having 12 points.
Manchester United's next match will be against Bayern Munich on Wednesday as they start their UEFA Champions League campaign while they will later take on Burnley on Saturday in PL. Brighton will start their UEFA Europa League campaign against AEK Athens on Thursday and will return to PL at home against Bournemouth on September 24.
