Brighton 3-2 Manchester United: 4 talking points
The second weekend of the 2018/2019 Premier League season is over, and it delivered one of the shocks of the season, as Brighton and Hove Albion defeated Manchester United 3-2 at the Amex stadium.
Both teams posted different matchday one results, with United kicking the season with a narrow 2-1 victory over Leicester at home, while Brighton suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Watford at Vicarage Road.
With rivals Manchester City posting a comfortable 6-1 victory over Huddersfield town, the onus was on Manchester United to send a statement to the Premier League about their intentions by posting a win today, but they got their scripts horribly wrong.
The Red Devils found themselves behind on 25 minutes, after some horrible defending allowed Glen Murray to slot past De Gea, and their woes were compounded just two minutes later as Shane Duffy was on hand to score his first ever Premier League goal due to Manchester United failing to clear their lines from a corner.
Romelu Lukaku nodded home nine minutes before the break to half the deficit, but rash defending by Eric Bailly in the box offered an opportunity for Paschal Gross from 18 yards out, and it is one the German gobbled up, blasting into the roof of the net off David De Gea's leg. A penalty by Paul Pogba deep into stoppage time was nothing more than a mere consolation for United, as Mourinho's side dropped behind their rivals in the title race.
As with any defeat, there are always lessons to be learned, more so as the defeat came to an inferior opponent who Manchester United would have expected to beat. Here are four lessons from Manchester United's loss to Brighton.
#4 Fred might need some time to settle in
Manchester United signed Brazilian international Fred from Shaktar Donetsk for a fee believed to be in the region of £52m in June, and the 25-year-old was expected to provide steel and guile to the United midfield, allowing Paul Pogba the freedom to play to the best of his abilities.
Things have however not gone to plan for Fred, as he was guilty of being too rash and was lucky to escape receiving a red card after a number of rough tackles in his debut against Leicester City.
At Brighton, it was his unimpressive control over midfield from a poor De Gea pass which caught United out of shape and paved the way for Pashcal Gross to steal into the box and be fouled by Eric Bailly. Earlier, it was also his error which led to the corner kick from which Shane Duffy scored his first ever Premier League goal and Brighton's second.
While Fred is an undoubted talent (we witnessed that much at Shaktar Donetsk), however, on account of his performances in the red of Manchester United so far, fans at Old Trafford might have to wait a while to see the best of the Brazilian.