Manchester United 4 Brighton and Hove Albion 2
Danny Welbeck scored one of Brighton and Hove Albion’s two goals against his former club Manchester United as the Seagulls battled back from three goals down in the final 20 minutes.
But it was too little too late and, in the final minute of added time, Bryan Mbeumo compounded the misery for a Brighton side that had enjoyed plenty of possession but returned home empty-handed.
Welbeck tested Man United keeper Senne Lammens on the quarter hour but the Belgian reacted well to save.
Then, Matheus Cunha opened the scoring for United with a stunning strike after 24 minutes from the edge of the area, curling a low ball past Jan Paul van Hecke and beyond Bart Verbruggen’s reach.
It was the Brazilian’s third attempt in about 10 minutes and this time the probing paid off.
Ten minutes later, Luke Shaw played the ball to Casemiro and the former Real Madrid midfielder fired in a shot from the edge of the box.
It was a lucky strike, taking a deflection off Yasin Ayari and leaving Verbruggen with no chance as he had already dived to his left.
It was 2-0 at half-time and shortly after the break Bruno Fernandes came close to making it three but Verbruggen got the better of him in the one-to-one, with a reflexive leap.
A few moments later, Ayari headed past the post, one of relatively few decent chances for the visitors.
As the hour approached, Fabian Hürzeler made three substitutions, sending on James Milner, Tom Watson and Diego Gomez for Carlos Baleba, Maxim De Cuyper and Ayari.
They were on the pitch for less than a few minutes when Albion conceded again as Benjamin Sesko passed to Mbeumo who nutmegged Lewis Dunk to send a low strike thundering home.
Ten minutes later Mbeumo came close again, striking first time with another real blast but Verbruggen made an athletic save, pushing the low ball on to the post and out for a corner.
Three minutes after that, in the 74th minute, Albion pulled one back after a surging Yankuba Minteh was brought down by Patrick Dorgu who was booked and perhaps lucky not to have been dismissed.
Welbeck fired in the free kick that curled over the wall and dipped in just under the bar. Lammens came close but could not quite reach it.
Albion were fired up and Mats Wieffer ended a run with a short square pass to Watson on the edge of the box. He found a way to shoot through a crowded area but Lammens was able to keep the ball out.
The fighting spirit paid off when, in the second minute of added time, Milner sent in a corner that Charalampos Kostoulas headed home with panache.
Mbeuma wasn’t done though and raced on to a long low first-touch pass from Ayden Heaven in the final seconds to make good the win.
Afterwards, Albion boss Fabian Hürzeler was clear about his side’s defensive errors, saying: “If you give them four presents, you can’t win the game.”
