Football news - Manchester United ease past Brighton to move into top half
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Updated 10/11/2019 at 16:41 GMT
Premier League, Old Trafford - Manchester United 3 (Pereira 17', Propper OG 19', Rashford 66') Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Dunk 64')
Marcus Rashford of Manchester United celebrates with teammate Anthony Martial after scoring his team's third goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on November 10, 2019 in Manchester, Uni
Image credit: Getty Images
Manchester United recorded their fourth Premier League win of the season and move into the top half as they comfortably saw off Brighton 3-1 at Old Trafford.
A scrappy first half saw United go 2-0 up thanks to quickfire goals from Andreas Pereira and a Davy Propper own goal inside the opening 20 minutes.
Brighton shifted to a 3-5-2 in the second half and pulled one back through Lewis Dunk who powerfully headed in substitute Pascal Gross’ corner.
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Lewis Dunk of Brighton and Hove Albion celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on November 10, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom.
Image credit: Getty Images
But within seconds United got their third thanks to Rashford who smashed his strike in from close range after being teed up by Anthony Martial.
Seconds later Rashford could have grabbed his second following a rapid counter-attack spearheaded by Daniel James, but he missed an almost open goal.
United continued to push forward with Rashford missing another good chance - albeit from a tight angle - in the 89th minute. Scott McTominay was also stretchered off in the final seconds, but ultimately had to make do with a comfortable 3-1 victory.
TALKING POINT – A TURNING POINT IN UNITED’S SEASON?
It was the kind of performance that United fans will be delighted with.
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ndreas Pereira of Manchester United celebrates scoring their first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on November 10, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom.
Image credit: Getty Images
It was a young, hungry side eager to prove a point after that disappointing defeat to Bournemouth last weekend and they did so by playing some excellent, free-flowing football which Brighton struggled to deal with.
In the Premier League United play Sheffield United and Villa next before hosting Spurs on December 4. Building momentum heading into a tricky festive period will be crucial for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
MAN OF THE MATCH – MARCUS RASHFORD
The 22-year-old took the game on by the scuff of the neck after Dunk pulled a goal back.
The England forward did miss a sitter and another good chance late on, but his goal came at a pivotal time and caused Martin Montoya plenty of problems down the left flank. His nutmeg on Davy Propper late on is worth a watch, too.
PLAYER RATINGS
Manchester United: De Gea (7), Wan-Bissaka (6), Lindelof (6), Maguire (6), Williams (6), McTominay (6), Fred (7), James (7), Pereira (8), Rashford (8), Martial (7)
Subs: Lingard (5), Greenwood (N/A), Rojo (N/A)
Brighton: Ryan (7), Montoya (5), Duffy (5), Dunk (6), Burn (4), Trossard (5), Propper (4), Stephens (4), Alzate (4), Maupay (4), Connolly (4)
Subs: Murray (4), March (5), Gross (6)
KEY MOMENTS
17' - GOAL! Pereira gives United the lead with a deflected shot, richocheting off Stephens, from close range on his 50th appearance for the club! Man Utd 1-0 Brighton.
19' - GOAL! Propper scores an own goal two minutes after Pereira gave United the lead! Fred's free-kick into the box is nodded down by Maguire before McTominay bundles in off Propper from point-blank range. BUT VAR is checking the goal for a potential handball involving Maguire.
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Andreas Pereira of Manchester United celebrates scoring their first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on November 10, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom.
Image credit: Getty Images
64' GOAL! Game on! Gross' corner is powerfully headed into the net by Dunk, getting the better of De Gea!
66' - GOAL! And just like that United have a two-goal lead again! Rashford gets the goal. He's teed up by Martial who draws Ryan out and smashes his right-footed strike in from close range off the crossbar.
68' - WHAT A MISS! United nearly had an instant fourth after a lightning quick counter-attack. James sprints down the right and squares for Rashford who had an open goal to slot it in, but he hits his shot wide! The home supporters inside Old Trafford cannot believe it! A sitter.
88' - BIG MISS! Rashford sprints down the left with Brighton outnumberd at the back. He plays a lovely one-two with Martial before skewing his shot, from a tight angle, wide.
STATS
- 23y 350d – With the average age of their starting XI 23 years and 350 days, Manchester United named the youngest starting line-up in the Premier League this season, and their youngest since a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace back in May 2017 (22y 284d).
- Manchester United have scored two goals in the first half of a Premier League game at Old Trafford for only the second time in 2019, also doing so against Brighton back in January.
- Marcus Rashford has scored six goals at Old Trafford across all competitions in 2019-20 - only Sergio Agüero (9 at the Etihad) and Mohamed Salah (7 at Anfield) have netted more home goals among Premier League players.
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