Pascal Gross scored the only goal of the match as Brighton & Hove Albion recorded a 1-0 win over Manchester United on Friday night.
The victory means that Brighton have secured their spot in next season’s Premier League, with United struggling throughout the 90 minutes.
Below are four talking points from the clash at the Amex.
United well off the pace at the Amex
Victory for Jose Mourinho’s side against Brighton would have all but secured second position in the Premier League table - their highest finish in five years. The Red Devils have been unable to challenge Manchester City for the crown this term, but that is mainly due to Pep Guardiola’s side enjoying a quite staggering campaign.
United still sit five points clear of second-placed Liverpool on the same number of matches, while fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur are six points off the 20-time English champions with a game in hand. Mourinho’s team are still strong favourites to claim second when all is said and done, and that would mark a huge step forward for a club that has largely struggled since Sir Alex Ferguson departed at the end of the 2012-13 campaign.
There is no getting away from the fact that it was a very poor performance from United at the Amex, however, with a number of players failing to make the most of opportunities to impress ahead of the FA Cup final.
The visitors thought that they had taken the lead in the very early stages when Marouane Fellaini turned a Marcus Rashford free kick home, but the offside flag was raised. That was just about as good as the away side produced in the first 45 minutes, with Mourinho visibly unhappy at the break.
Paul Pogba tested Brighton goalkeeper Mathew Ryan with a decent strike early in the second period, but it was the home side that continued to threaten, and they deservedly took the lead just before the hour mark.
Jesse Lingard, Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay all came off the bench in a bid to turn the tide, but not much changed, and the defeat means that United have now lost away to all three promoted teams this season. The club has bigger fish to fry with the FA Cup final on the horizon, but it was a really rotten performance.
- Pascal Gross: 15 (£30,000) 🇩🇪
- Alexis Sanchez: 15 (£380,000) 🇨🇱
#BHAMUN
Fellaini struggles as contract standoff continues
Fellaini came off the bench to score the winner against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, with the Belgian producing a wonderful header in the latter stages. Mourinho claimed after the match that he was hopeful the 30-year-old would be signing a new contract with the club before his current deal expires next month.
Fellaini’s recent comments surrounding his strength at the club would have carried weight following the Arsenal match, but the midfielder’s position might well have been weakened by his performance against Brighton. The former Everton star feels that he is best suited to a deep midfield position, but that was once again shown not to be the case on Friday night.
The midfielder was extremely sloppy in possession in the first 45 minutes, although he was far from the only one in a red shirt. That continued early in the second half, and he was found in a deep position on far too many occasions.
Fellaini feels that he deserves more than the 12-month contract extension that is currently on the table, but he was hooked in the 68th minute with United trailing to an effort from Gross, and the Belgium international would perhaps be best served signing the offer on the table as soon as possible.
Rashford fails to make most of centre-forward chance
Romelu Lukaku’s ankle injury meant that Rashford was given a rare opportunity to impress through the middle. It is the position that the 20-year-old wants to play for United, but he struggled at the Amex.
Rashford was bright in the early exchanges, and it was his rasping free kick that Fellaini turned into the back of the net that looked to have sent the away side ahead. The attacker wanted far too long on the ball in the 26th minute, however, when he was free inside the Brighton box. Anthony Martial was the easy pass, but Rashford hesitated, and Mourinho was furious with the Englishman.
The attacker was always willing to stretch the Brighton defence, but his use of the ball was just not good enough. The performances of Martial and Juan Mata did little to help Rashford, but it was the type of display that proves that he is still not quite ready to lead the line for Mourinho’s team.
It is important to remain realistic and identify that Rashford is a wonderful talent that has the ability to become a key player for United, but his manager would not have been impressed with what he saw at the Amex on Friday night.
Brighton mathematically secure Premier League survival
Brighton are now mathematically safe in the Premier League, which means that there will be no pressure on the team to pick up results from their final two away league fixtures against Manchester City and Liverpool. The victory has actually seen them jump into 11th position, and onto a 40-point mark.
The Seagulls have lost 14 times in the Premier League this season, but they have now won nine times, with seven of those victories coming in front of their own supporters. There is no question that their away form will need to improve next term, with the Seagulls winning just twice on their travels, and scoring just nine times in their 17 away fixtures during the 2017-18 season. Friday will go down as a wonderful night for the club, however, and they certainly deserved it.
Gross had the home side’s first attempt on target in the 13th minute, but the attacker’s strike was straight into the arms of David de Gea. The Manchester United goalkeeper was then forced to make a wonderful save seven minutes later to keep out a long-range effort from Glenn Murray.
The shots continued to arrive from the home side as Jose Izquierdo tested De Gea in the 28th minute, before Murray headed the resulting corner wide of the post. United’s Player of the Year then denied Gross 10 minutes before the break. All of the chances in the first half came for Brighton, but the two teams entered the half-time interval at 0-0.
Anthony Knockaert had one deflected over the crossbar early in the second half as Brighton threatened on the break, and they took the lead in the 57th minute when Gross’ effort was adjudged to have crossed the line.
Izqueirdo perhaps should have doubled the home side’s advance in the 65th minute, but the attacker fired wide at the far post. Spurred on by a vocal home support and inspired by the excellent Knockaert, Chris Hughton’s side were full of it against the English giants.
It might have been an uncomfortable end to the campaign had they lost to United, but that never looked likely, and Brighton have confirmed their spot in next season’s Premier League with two matches to spare.
