No Wonder Brighton Wins Easily At Manchester United

Manchester United lost against Brighton at Old Trafford (Instagram/@manchesterunited).

JAKARTA - There is nothing surprising about Manchester United's 1-3 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on Sunday, January 19, 2025.

Whoever witnessed the first 80 minutes of the Red Devils against Southampton - the worst team in the Premier League - on Friday, January 17, 2025, must be worried about what Brighton might do at Old Trafford.

No wonder The Seagulls left Manchester United as a comfortable winner because they were completely predictable.

The Red Devils managed to get back up against Southampton until they finally won 3-1. Nothing is happening again against Brighton. If so, the visitors should have won more heavily.

Brighton scored three goals, one other goal disallowed through VAR and squandered chances at the end of the game.

Manager Ruben Amorim is eager to take responsibility for the series of poor results to his own shoulders, but this is not a new phenomenon.

Brighton have won their last three games at Old Trafford, under three different managers. The problem, not the amorism, but the situation he inherited.

"We have to admit that moment and don't ignore that problem. Everyone here is not playing well."

"Whatever the situation, we didn't play well and had to accept it. We couldn't accept losing so many games, for any Premier League club."

"But imagine, this is Manchester United. So, it's a very difficult moment, but we have to keep going, there's no other way. We have to suffer and keep going," Amorim said after the game.

The worst thing for Manchester United is the fact that Brighton doesn't even have to play well to win.

Brighton only needed three shots on target to score three goals. Goalkeeper Andre Onana, who performed brilliantly against Southampton, managed to make a fatal mistake so the visitors scored the third goal.

Yasin Ayari fired a cross that didn't lead to anyone. Instead of making regular saves, Onana actually slid out and passed the ball towards Georginio Rutter to score a goal against the empty goal. It was a shame that summarized Manchester United's performance.

While the Red Devils only fired one shot on target, which came from Bruno Fernandes' first half penalty.

For the first time in nine years, they missed a shot on target from open play in a league game at Old Trafford.

It was one day when researchers were forced to open a record book to find out when Manchester United was this bad the last time.

Losing to Brighton was their sixth home defeat in the Premier League this season - the highest defeat of their 12 opening home games in a league season of 130 years.

The last time the defeat occurred was - in the 1893/1894 season - they were not even named Manchester United (still named Newton Heath) and played at Bank Street Stadium.

Awakening And Resilience

Actually, the more appropriate word describing Brighton's appearance is effectiveness.

Indeed, they came to Old Trafford after winning just one of their last nine league games.

However, we must not neglect Brighton's revival since the turn of the year. Three matches have been unbeaten in all competitions (two wins and one draw) before meeting Manchester United.

The only draw was even won when they hosted Arsenal (1-1) in the opening match of 2025.

Before doing so at Old Trafford, Brighton scored a minimum of three goals while silencing Norwich City 4-0 in the FA Cup Third Round on January 11, 2025.

However, the last time they scored three goals in a league match came in October 2024 against Tottenham Hotspur (3-2).

So, it can be seen how Brighton's revival into 2025 made their coach, Fabian Hurzeler, not surprised by the victory at home to Manchester United even though their performance was not optimal.

"We're not surprised. We haven't got any results that we might deserve. We looked very mature."

"We control the game and create chances. The players seem quite confident on the pitch," said Fabian Hurzeler.

As for Manchester United, it is clear that the defeat was a setback. Since at Ruben Amorim's hands, they have now lost seven of their first 15 matches.

The Portuguese coach became the first Manchester United manager to experience the result, since Jimmy Murphy took over briefly after the Munich air disaster in 1958.

"We have to understand that we broke all bad records. Opponents were better than us in many ways."

"It's a difficult moment, you have to admit that we are in a very difficult situation," said Amororim.

Since the atmosphere took over from Erik ten Hag in November 2024, his team has won 11 points from 11 league games.

They are in 13th position in the standings, only five positions and 10 points above the relegation zone. The danger is that things can get worse before getting better.

The next five Manchester United league games three of them are against the team above them and the other two are below.

If the Amorism team gives points to teams like Fulham, Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Everton, and Ipswich Town over the next month, they will be much closer to the relegation zone than they are now.

The problem is, it is precisely Manchester United who have more difficulty fighting the cement team. The proof is that they can beat Manchester City and Arsenal and play a draw against Liverpool.

However, the Red Devils lost easily to Nottingham Forest, AFC Bournemouth, and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Meanwhile, before a terrible last defeat against Brighton, Manchester United paid tribute to Denis Law.

Their legendary former striker, who died at the age of 84, Friday, January 17, 2025, was celebrated with a statue outside Old Trafford and was part of one of their greatest teams in the 1960s.

What is happening now cannot be separated from the success that Law and his colleagues enjoyed, something that Amorim clearly explained at a press conference after the match.

"We may be the worst team in Manchester United history. In the last 10 games in the Ingris League, we only won three times. We have to defend now," said the 39-year-old coach.

That's where Manchester United are. Focusing on survival rather than trying to enter the top row of the standings to join the team with other big names.