BRIGHTON: Joao Pedro’s header in the 95th minute delivered a dramatic 2-1 win for Brighton over Manchester United on Saturday, giving 31-year-old boss Fabian Hurzeler a perfect start to his Premier League tenure at home.
United seemed set to salvage a point when Amad Diallo’s deflected shot equalized Danny Welbeck’s first-half opener for Brighton. However, the visitors’ hopes of a win were dashed as Alejandro Garnacho’s effort, which had clipped team-mate Joshua Zirkzee (who was offside), was ruled out.
Brighton now have a perfect six points from their opening two games under Hurzeler, with Pedro heading in Simon Adingra’s cross deep into stoppage time while left unmarked.
The defeat puts more pressure on United boss Erik Ten Hag, who faces Liverpool next weekend at Old Trafford. Despite a victory over Fulham last week, Ten Hag’s side has yet to show significant improvement from a disappointing 2023/24 season.
Ten Hag maintained the same lineup that started against Fulham, with Zirkzee and Garnacho again coming on as substitutes. Brighton, meanwhile, displayed their potential to return to European competition after their impressive 3-0 win against Everton in Hurzeler’s debut.
Brighton took the lead on 32 minutes when Harry Maguire failed to intercept a cross, allowing Kaoru Mitoma to set up Welbeck for his 100th career goal. United thought they had equalized when Marcus Rashford scored, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Brighton continued to press after the break, with James Milner’s effort cleared off the line and Welbeck’s header hitting the bar. United finally equalized when Diallo scored via a deflection off Jan Paul van Hecke.
Zirkzee, who replaced Mason Mount at halftime, was involved in a controversial moment when his offside position negated what should have been a second goal for United after a VAR review.
Brighton then struck the decisive blow as Pedro evaded Scott McTominay and Matthijs de Ligt to head the ball past Andre Onana, sealing the win and highlighting defensive issues for United.
