“Brighton Stuns Manchester United with Last-Minute Winner, Piling Pressure on Ten Hag”
BRIGHTON, England — Just two games into the season, and Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is already facing renewed scrutiny.
In stoppage time, Joao Pedro was left unmarked and headed home, sealing Brighton’s 2-1 victory over United on Saturday. The match highlighted United’s lingering issues, as their inconsistent performances under Ten Hag have yet to be resolved.
Pedro’s goal came after United failed to clear a corner, with Simon Adingra delivering a cross that Pedro finished. This win marked Brighton’s second consecutive victory under their new 31-year-old coach, Fabian Hurzeler.
Adding to United’s frustration, a potential winning goal was disallowed in the 70th minute due to a comedic offside incident. Alejandro Garnacho’s shot from a tight angle was headed for an open goal but was inadvertently deflected by Joshua Zirkzee, who was in an offside position, causing the goal to be ruled out.
“We thought we had the winning goal, and it’s such bad luck that the ball was on the line,” said Ten Hag. The Dutch manager, who faced immense pressure last season but retained his position after winning the FA Cup, now finds his leadership questioned again after a loss that was due to missed opportunities and defensive lapses.
“You can’t drop points so needlessly,” Ten Hag added. “If we defend like this, we’ll keep dropping points. … We need to improve in certain situations.”
Zirkzee, who scored the late winner against Fulham in the season opener, started on the bench again, with Ten Hag opting to use Bruno Fernandes as a false nine.
Former United forward Danny Welbeck opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, finishing off a cross from Kaoru Mitoma. Welbeck almost doubled Brighton’s lead in the 58th minute with a header that hit the crossbar, but United equalized just two minutes later. Amad Diallo cut in from the right, and his shot deflected off Jan Paul van Hecke into the net.