Manchester United 1-0 Brighton: Ashley Young ends 18-month goal drought and earns three points to keep the pressure on Premier League leaders City

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By scoring poorly for artistic impression, Jose Mourinho did little to convince Eric Cantona and other sceptics he’s a better fit for Manchester United than Pep Guardiola.

But the Old Trafford boss had a novel way of explaining why his side lacked style in recording an ugly win from Ashley Young’s deflected strike — he picked too many exciting players in the same team.

Mourinho, who can always ask his critics to show him their medals, has recently succumbed to the temptation of picking all of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku in his starting line-up.  

Romelu Lukaku displays huge relief as he celebrates with his Manchester United team-mates following Ashley Young's strike

Young's shot – deflected by Brighton and Hove Albion defender Lewis Dunk – broke the deadlock at Old Trafford

Young celebrates after seeing his heavily deflected shot beat the Brighton goalkeeper and give Manchester United the lead

Brighton and Hove Albion striker Glenn Murray speaks with referee Neil Swarbrick with the players unhappy with the goal

Zlatan Ibrahimovic continued his injury comeback for Manchester United with his first Premier League game of the season

Jose Mourinho looked less than impressed as he walked off the Old Trafford pitch following a scrappy victory

MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS AND MATCH ZONE 

Manchester United: De Gea 7; Valencia 7, Lindelof 6.5, Smalling 6, Young 7.5; Matic 6.5; Rashford 6 (Fellaini 80 6), Pogba 6, Mata 6 (Ibrahimovic 62 6), Martial 6 (Mkhitaryan 71 6); Lukaku 6.

Subs not used: Rojo, Romero, Ander Herrera, McTominay.

Goals: Dunk (OG) 66.

Brighton: Ryan 7; Bruno 7, Dunk 6.5, Duffy 7, Bong 6; Stephens 6.5; Knockaert 6.5, Propper 6, Gross 7 (Brown 87), March 6 (Izquierdo 74 6); Murray 6 (Hemed 74 6). 

Subs not used: Kayal, Goldson, Schelotto, Krul.

Bookings: Murray, Duffy.

Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire).

Attendance: 75,018

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Young's shot was heavily deflected by Dunk and floated into the back of the net.

 

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Even the winning goal after 66 minutes was fortunate and controversial. United were wrongly awarded a corner when Lukaku, rather than Solly March, took the last touch. When it was half-cleared, Young’s prospective hit flew off the outstretched boot of Lewis Dunk into the net.

‘I am incredibly disappointed because we deserved to get something on the day,’ said Brighton’s popular manager Chris Hughton.

‘We didn’t play well,’ conceded Mourinho, whose side are unbeaten at Old Trafford since September 2016 when Hillary Clinton was still expecting to be US President.

The United manager will have been aware of comments this week from Cantona, one of the most popular players in United’s history, that Guardiola would have been a more ‘logical’ choice at Old Trafford because of his creative instincts. Mourinho’s retort was fascinating, blaming United’s lack of cohesion on a surfeit of forwards

‘Sometimes you play with too many attacking players and you lose control of the game,’ he said.

‘We had problems because Pogba and Matic were a bit isolated in the centre of the park. Our creation was poor. The three players with Lukaku [Rashford, Mata, Martial] didn’t get the ball, they were not successful in one-against-ones. Marcus did not have a happy match at all.’

Mourinho can be pure pantomime but with 25 trophies in his managerial career, he deserves respect and certainly United looked unbalanced. How they missed a midfield general like Paul Scholes, or even Michael Carrick, currently recovering from a minor heart procedure, to link up with all the pace and power in attack.

Brighton, who had been unbeaten in five games, started the brighter. Anthony Knockaert fired across goal when well placed and David de Gea was forced into a smart save from Pascal Gross.

United had to wait until the stroke of half-time before seriously threatening, Aussie keeper Mat Ryan making a double-save from Lukaku and Pogba. The £75million Belgian isn’t the most popular player around Old Trafford at the moment and there was a huge ovation for Zlatan Ibrahimovic when he came on for Mata in the second half.

Lukaku did play a part in the only goal but it was unwitting. He knocked the back of Solly’s leg, but the assistant thought the ball had gone out off the Brighton man.

‘When you see it again, it wasn’t a corner,’ said Hughton. ‘Yes, I’d expect him [the linesman] to get it right in those circumstances.’

When the corner was cleared to the edge of the box, Dunk rushed out to block Young but only succeeded in sending the ball looping over Ryan. It was Young’s first goal for 18 months and reward for a fine season in which he has been reinvented as a left-back and recalled to the England squad.

To Brighton’s credit, they never gave up hope of an equaliser with Knockaert sending in dangerous crosses and Shane Duffy heading wide from a corner.

Mourinho sent on his enforcer Marouane Fellaini to ensure United moved within five points of leaders Manchester City, who play Huddersfield today. There was also a late outing for Henrikh Mkhitaryan who had been left out of the previous two squads.

Mourinho was gracious towards Brighton: ‘I have to praise a team and a manager who were playing in the Championship a few months ago. They were the team that has given us most problems at Old Trafford. The good thing for me was our intensity got higher in the second half, in search of the goal, and then I saw everyone playing for the clean sheet [but] people like Lukaku, chasing defenders on the left. So I am happy with the attitude.’

Hughton said: ‘It is always nice to hear praise from the opposition manager but we are frustrated. We feel sorry for Lewis Dunk about his deflection, he was very good for us again today.’

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho shakes hands with his Brighton counterpart Chris Hughton before the match 

Brighton and Hove Albion players go through their final team talk in a huddle just before the game gets underway

Match officials wear rainbow laces as part of the anti-homophobia campaign that is organised by LGBT charity Stonewall

Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford is forced to jump over Brighton star Lewis Dunk after a sliding tackle

Paul Pogba attempts to work his way past Brighton star Davy Proper as part of the first-half action at Old Trafford on Saturday

Rain pours down on the Old Trafford pitch as Brighton and Hove Albion successfully defend a Manchester United corner

It worked well in putting four past Newcastle last weekend but Brighton are among the best defensive units in the Premier League and United were often slow and sluggish in trying to break them down. 

Mourinho can be pure pantomime but with 25 trophies in his managerial career, he deserves respect and certainly United looked unbalanced. 

How they missed a midfield general like Paul Scholes, or even Michael Carrick currently recovering from a minor heart procedure, to link up with all the pace and power up front.

It was Brighton, unbeaten themselves in five games, who started the brighter. Anthony Knockaert fired across goal when well placed and David de Gea was forced into a smart save from Pascal Gross.

United had to wait until the stroke of half-time before seriously threatening the visitor’s goal, Aussie ‘keeper Mat Ryan making a double-save from Lukaku and Pogba.  

Brighton and Hove Albion goalkeeper Matthew Ryan makes a good save from Romelu Lukaku's powerful first-half header

Manchester United midfielder Pogba sees his effort cleared off the line by the Brighton and Hove Albion goalkeeper

The France international needed treatment from the Manchester United physios after his legs were tangled in the melee 

Manchester United's Juan Mata attempts to break the deadlock with Brighton with a speculative shot from outside the box

Chris Smalling and Paul Pogba complain after a foul from Brighton and Hove Albion striker Glenn Murray, who holds the ball

Manchester United's Ibrahimovic comes on for Juan Mata to make his first Premier League appearance of the season

The £75million Belgian isn’t the most popular player around Old Trafford at the moment and there was a huge ovation for Zlatan Ibrahimovic when he arrived from bench midway through the second half, Mata making way.

Lukaku did play a part in the only goal but it was unwitting. He knocked the back of Solly’s leg, but the assistant thought the ball had gone out of play off the Brighton man. 

‘When you see it again, it wasn’t a corner. Yes, I’d expect him (the linesman) to get it right in those circumstances,’ said Hughton. 

Young opens the scoring for Manchester United after 66 minutes with the help of a deflection from a Brighton defender

Young celebrates in front of Manchester United fans in the rain after breaking the deadlock against Brighton and Hove Albion

Manchester United celebrate as a team by the corner flag as their supporters cheer following the deadlock breaking goal

Brighton's Anthony Knockaert reacts after missing a chance to bring his side back on level terms at Old Trafford

Ibrahimovic looks dissatisfied after a decision goes against him during his short second-half stint for Manchester United

Old Trafford comes under a blanket of darkness as a grey cloud floats over the pitch and brings a heavy rain shower with it