Man Utd 1 Brighton 3: Onana howler and defensive disasterclass bring Red Devils’ mini-revival to screeching halt
MANCHESTER UNITED paid an emotional tribute to one of their all-time greats Denis Law before kick-off.
But on the pitch, the current crop could not give the ‘King of the Stretford End’ – who died on Friday aged 84 – the send off he deserved.
Law was the third highest scorer in United’s history and was part of a golden era at Old Trafford.
Things are very different these days though – and Brighton once again found playing at the Theatre of Dreams very much to their liking.
Goals from Yankubah Minteh, Kaoru Mitoma put the Seagulls in charge before Andre Onana gifted sub Georginio Rutter a third.
And that was more than enough to see them win at United for a third time in a row – and end the mini-revival Ruben Amorim’s men have enjoyed in the last couple of weeks.
The Law tributes were brilliantly done by United but there was little sympathy from the visitors when the game kicked off.
Onana had saved smartly from Joao Pedro at his near post but it wasn’t long before his defence was opened up again in the fifth minute.
Carlos Baleba’s ball over the top sent Mitoma clear down the left hand side and he unselfishly squared for Minteh to tap home.
United at least showed some fight to force their way back into it and Bart Verbruggen played his defenders into trouble with his wayward pass.
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Joshua Zirkzee was held back by Baleba as he went to shoot and ref Peter Bankes had no choice but to point to the spot.
Bruno Fernandes sent Verbruggen the wrong way from the spot and the Red Devils seemed to be back in it.
But the skipper got away with one just before half-time as his backpass landed his team in trouble but Diogo Dalot blocked former United man Danny Welbeck’s goalbound effort.
There was another reprieve just after the re-start as United failed to deal with a low free-kick into the box and Pedro spun sharply before slotting past Onana.
Luckily for the home team, the VAR had spotted a kick from Jan Paul van Hecke on Dalot before the ball dropped for the Seagulls striker.
The ref had a long look before eventually he agreed – but it’s fair to say the Portuguese defender had made the most of it.
This time the let off was short-lived as the visitors did take the lead a little over five minutes later.
Mitoma had teed up Minteh for the opening goal – and this time the roles were reversed.
Gambian ace Minteh hung up a lovely cross to the back post and Mitoma stretched out a leg to get ahead of Noussair Mazrouai – who also collided with the post.
It was no more than the visitors deserved and shortly afterwards it was game over thanks to another clanger from Onana.
Yasin Ayari’s low cross into the box should have been simple as he was under no pressure – but somehow he failed to hold onto it.
Rutter picked it up and had the simplest job to pick up the loose ball and roll it into the empty net.
Back to square one for Amorim and United then after a 10th league defeat of this difficult season.