A Ruben Amorim pirouette and revolving fist-pump greeted Bryan Mbeumo putting Manchester United 3-0 up and told the tale of how precious this third consecutive league victory is.
Yet the goal came on 61 minutes and still United found themselves clinging on at 3-2 deep into added time before Mbeumo smashed home his second. Almost instantly Anthony Taylor blew for time and “Glory, Glory Man United†blared out at Old Trafford.
So Brighton, winners of three of the last four meetings, motor back to the south coast defeated and Amorimâ€s team are starting to build some momentum. They are fourth overnight, thanks to Liverpool losing at Brentford.
The Portuguese was not happy at the late near-capitulation but can be content with how his tactic of having Luke Shaw move up from left centre-back to harry Georginio Rutter led to Mbuemoâ€s first strike having already played a part in Casemiroâ€s goal. Shaw certainly looked to have fouled the No 10 in the build-up but, with the video assistant referee uninterested, Mbeumo raced on to a cute Benjamin Sesko pass to fire a 20-yard finish which went through Lewis Dunkâ€s legs and beat Bart Verbruggen to the goalkeeperâ€s left.
Cut to the head coachâ€s celebration and verses of “Ruben Amorim, Ruben Amorim†from the ecstatic home fans, who heralded at the close a third consecutive Premier League win in the same season for a first time since February 2024.
Danny Welbeck (left) watches his free-kick clear the Manchester United wall for Brightonâ€s first goal. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
But this was confirmed only after Patrick Dorguâ€s pulling down of Yankuba Minteh precipitated United conceding twice. First, Danny Welbeck blazed a free-kick beyond Senne Lammens, the United goalkeeper surely disappointed not to deal with it better as the ball went at him rather than for a corner. In added time James Milnerâ€s corner from the right caught United slumbering and the unmarked Charalampos Kostoulas headed in.
In all this were signs of the project in progress United still are, but it finished as a good dayâ€s work that began with two penalty shouts being turned down by Taylor. An Amad Diallo jink past Maxim De Cuyper caused the left-back to clip him but the referee was unmoved – to home ire. Further fury followed when Dunk seemed to grab Mbeumo in the area.
Amorim spoke of attitude being key and his men kept on and got their reward. The ball dropped to Bruno Fernandes, whose instant no-look pass to Casemiro was a moment to grace a 300th United appearance. The Brazilian tapped the ball left to his compatriot Matheus Cunha and a touch to tee it up was followed by a superb curling finish that skimmed past Verbruggenâ€s fingertips into the bottom left corner.
This was the £62.5m summer signingâ€s first goal, in his 10th appearance. If “about time†is a fair call on the strikeâ€s arrival, Unitedâ€s delight soon doubled as Amorimâ€s deployment of Shaw as a pickpocket hit the first jackpot.
Amad Diallo hitches a ride on Casemiro after the latter scored Manchester Unitedâ€s second goal. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA
A Jan Paul van Hecke pass aimed for Rutter was nicked from him by Shaw. Casemiro took aim from 25-yards, the ball deflected off Yasin Ayari, left Verbruggen stranded, and in rolled Unitedâ€s second.
skip past newsletter promotion
Sign up to Football Daily
Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football
Privacy Notice:Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
United were cruising and it should have been even better by the break. Slick interplay involving Fernandes put Sesko in but he sliced wildly off target from only yards out.
Rutter did the same at the other end, though he may have been hurt moments before, impeding his movement. There was, though, zero excuse for the amateurish effort Carlos Baleba ballooned over as the second half began – hardly a prime advert for a player wanted by United in the previous window.
Seconds later, Fernandes showed Baleba how it should be done. Cunha found Diallo deep in Brightonâ€s area, he picked his captain out, and Fernandesâ€s pile-driver stung Verbruggenâ€s palms. The Brighton keeper made another routine save from Sesko while Lammens had to be far more alert when a curving Minteh cross missed everyone and was sneaking into the right corner before the keeper tipped it out.
So Unitedâ€s only home outing in a period of 50 days, with no fixtures at Old Trafford until 24 November, ended in victory: a fine way to sign off.
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.