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THE CRISIS HAS NOT YET DEVELOPED.
Let’s simply call this a significant issue.
The first indication of unrest against the management came from the boos that were heard around the stadium when Anthony Martial was substituted in during the second half.
at least from the followers.
When they travel to Munich the following week to take on Bayern and an energetic Harry Kane in the Champions League, things can only get worse.
You can tell exactly where United are and how far Brighton has come under Robert De Zebri by the fact that this result was not unexpected.
In the Red Devils’ first game under Ten Hag’s leadership last season, they were the last team to inflict a league defeat on them here.
They have now repeated it and done it with much greater vehemence.
They have now won four straight games against them in the league.
Damage was done by goals from ex-United forward Danny Welbeck on minute 20, Pascal Gross on minute 53, and Joao Pedro on minute 71.
The 25-yard field goal by Hannibal Mejbri on 73 was of little solace.
The manager faced a challenge because Jadon Sancho and Antony’s situations left Manchester United short on wide players.
Since Marcus Rashford was alternating between pulling wide left and playing in a two-man forward line with Rasmus Hojlund, he simply chose not to play with one on the right.
They were followed by Bruno Fernandes.
In his first game back in English football after 17 months, new loan signing Sergio Reguilon, and full-backs Diogo Dalot, were their main sources of width.
However, Brighton’s threat of attack was forcing them back.
United appeared to be simple to play through following a very strong start.
With a superb play that resulted in the opening goal, the Seagulls did precisely that to start the scoring.
Welbeck scored inside United’s own box just than a minute after it began with a throw-in inside their own half.
There were 17 passes in between.
For the final two, Welbeck slid Simon Adingra to the right before sprinting into the penalty area to meet the return that Adam Lallana masterfully dummied for the former Red to score for the first time.
When Brighton is playing at its best, which they frequently do under De Zebri, they truly are one of the Premier League’s must-watch sides.
They qualified for the Europa League last season after finishing a record-breaking sixth.
Additionally, the Seagulls may have been the superior team in the FA Cup semifinal, which ended scoreless before United prevailed on penalties.
They have won four of their first five games so far in this campaign, scoring 15 goals in the process.
This performance was made with a starting XI that cost £17 million.
That amounts to less than one-fourth of the price of Jadon Sancho, who was exiled after spending the day observing the Under-18s and making a public statement criticizing the boss.
Even the greatest players for Brighton weren’t present on the field.
However, they had United on the defensive.
Marcus Rashford was the only United player who appeared to be a threat, and goalkeeper Jason Steele denied him on his first opportunity.
He also made the angle with a shot that Joel Veltman blocked.
Five minutes before halftime, United had the ball in the back of the net in what appeared to be Hojlund’s fantasy moment on his entire debut.
Rashford had let the ball to go too far before dragging it back for the Dane, and a glance at Stockley Park demonstrated that the ball was no longer in play, thus VAR would rule against him.
However, this United team has shown to be tough, most recently when they battled back from a 2-0 deficit after just four minutes to defeat Nottingham Forest 3-2.
We have demonstrated our character, as Ten Hag stated in his program notes. It’s time to demonstrate our caliber now.
It wasn’t to be.
Shortly after the restart, Rashford was given a chance when Hojlund sent him clear on an angle.
He went for goal himself and struck the side netting rather than returning a pass to his unguarded strike partner.
A few minutes later, United fell farther behind as a result of another deft play by the guests.
They managed to keep the ball securely once again before stepping it up as Kaoru Mitoma skidded inside and slipped it to Tariq Lamptey, whose square ball was enchanted by Gross.
As the ball drifted across Lisandro Martinez and Gross completed, Feint decided to fire, leaving Martinez staring into space.
Change was necessary, but Ten Hag’s 64th-minute substitutes were poorly received.
Casemiro, who didn’t seem really impressed, left for Hannibal.
Then, there was an open uprising with booing coming from all four directions when the board was raised for Martial to replace Hojlund.
Even in the darkest of days after Sir Alex Ferguson, seasoned United observers struggled to come up with a similar response to a substitute.
Brighton entered two players simultaneously, and Joao Pedro, one of them, began to stomp the ground as he struck Brighton’s third.
Quick on the break, Lamptey again was the one to set up Pedro’s goal with a pullback from the left and a thunderous strike beyond Andre Onana.
Only five games into the season, the new Manchester United goalkeeper was picking the ball out of the net for the tenth time in the Premier League since leaving Inter Milan.
A few minutes later, United was handed a narrow chance when one of their own substitutes, Hannibal, did succeed in getting one back with a long-range screamer.
During the extra period, Onana made a diving save to stop Ansu Fati from making it 4-1.
But there wouldn’t be any more drama in front of the Stretford End, no comeback, nothing.
Thousands had already started along Sir Matt Busby Way by the time the final whistle blew.
