Manchester United welcomed Brighton & Hove Albion to Old Trafford in the third round of the EFL Cup.
First half
In a week that has seen fans at Old Trafford despair as it appears their shining light at academy level, JJ Gabriel, is seemingly heading out the exit door, supporters received a welcome reminder of the talent still at their disposal in the youth sides.
Shea Lacey was given a start under Michael Carrick and took only eight minutes to send Old Trafford into raptures. He picked the ball up on the right, as he so often does, and fired a well-drilled shot into the net to give the Red Devils the lead.
Moments later, United had their second. Marcus Rashford had an effort blocked, but it deflected to Mason Mount, who drilled an effort into the ground to put the home side in the driving seat. It was 2-0 to United after 10 minutes, and it was the perfect start.
Noussair Mazraoui picked up a head injury and had to leave the field momentarily, but came on again to get United back up to eleven players. Brighton then started to get more involved in the match when Leny Yoro managed to hook away a cross from Pascal Gross in uncomfortable fashion.
Seconds later, Ayden Heaven was fortunate not to be punished for dallying on the ball when he was robbed of it, but his defensive partner Yoro bailed him out by clearing a cross from Oliver Boscagli. After 33 minutes, it was Boscagli again causing issues as he took a shot from range, but his effort whistled over the bar.
United were playing with fire a little as Malick Yalcouye was slid in, but pressure from Heaven just managed to force him to shoot wide of the goal. Karl Darlow was called into action moments later, making a good stop, but the effort was flagged off for offside anyway.
The home side were struggling just before half-time as Gross fired over the bar when he perhaps could have done better.
United’s defence has been a cause of concern all season, and Charalampos Kostoulas made them pay just before half-time. He was played in but scuffed his shot past Darlow, who would have wanted to do better.
The half-time whistle blew and United will have known they had a big second half coming up if they wanted to proceed to the last sixteen.
Second half
On 51 minutes, Youri Tielemans had the first chance of the half but his effort from distance went well wide.
Benjamin Sesko had endured a quiet night but he almost burst into life when played in, but Jason Steele raced out and nipped the ball off his toes. Luka Vušković responded for the visitors but his effort went over Darlow’s crossbar.
United’s captain for the night, Tielemans, had another shot on goal from a corner but once again it flew over the bar. Gross punished United as he so often has done in his career and scored from close range after poor defending from United failed to clear the ball.
Things went from bad to worse when Maxim De Cuyper completed Brighton’s comeback by finishing unmarked again in the United area, as Carrick’s side were once again horribly exposed defensively. Substitute Bruno Fernandes played in Marcus Rashford and the England international thought he had grabbed an equaliser, but Steele pulled off an impressive stop with his feet.
Brighton had a chance to finish the game off on 84 minutes when Diego Gómez had an effort but Darlow made a strong stop to keep United in the match.
The listless Red Devils could not respond and a terrible week got even worse as they exited a cup competition for the third successive time at the first hurdle.
Starting XI: Darlow, Dalot, Mazraoui, Yoro, Heaven, Santos, Tielemans, Sesko, Lacey, Mount
Subs: Zirkzee, Mainoo, Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha
Featured image by Molly Darlington via Getty Images
