Manchester United lucky to beat Brighton: 3 things we learned

Manchester United squeaked past Huddersfield at Old Trafford on Saturday. Here are three takeaways from the match.

Manchester United beat Brighton 1-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday thanks to Ashley Young’s deflected effort in the second half. Here are three takeaways from the match.

United get lucky

When Romelu Lukaku combined with Anthony Martial to create United’s first clear sight at goal in only the third minute (which he skied over), it seemed as though Brighton would be on the end of a similar thrashing to the one Newcastle received at Old Trafford last week.

But the Red Devils failed to maintain the intensity of those opening minutes, and struggled throughout the match. Brighton defended well, no doubt, but Jose Mourinho surely couldn’t have been pleased to see that his side’s most dangerous player was Ashley Young at left-back.

United improved after the break, working harder to win the ball back out of possession and as result forcing Brighton to spend longer and longer stretches in their defensive third. But they were lucky to score in the way they did.

The corner that preceded the goal was wrongly awarded, and Young’s shot took a massive deflection off Lewis Dunk before nestling in at the back post. To United’s credit, the goal was the culmination of a sustained period of pressure, but they were far from their best.

With Manchester City in the form they’re in, keeping pace is all that matters for United at this point, but they’ll need to improve if they hope to beat City when the two sides face off on Dec. 10. This is what winning while you’re playing badly looks like.

Brighton are for real

Brighton were among the favorites to get relegated heading into the season, but are in the top half of the table after 13 games. That’s a small sample size, and the Seagulls have benefited from a relatively easy run of fixtures, but this performance was further evidence they deserve their current position.

Chris Hughton has learned the hard way how important a solid defense is to surviving the relegation battle, but the Seagulls have a lot more going for them than two towering center-backs — the excellent Shane Duffy and Dunk — and a willingness to play for long stretches with 10 men behind the ball.

Pascal Gross, who heading into this match had either scored or assisted eight of Brighton’s 13 goals this season, was among the summer’s biggest bargains. His ability to receive the ball under pressure is crucial to ensuring the Seagulls don’t get stuck in their defensive shell, and his quality around the area is their best route to goal.

But while Gross has been the star, Anthony Knockaert is emerging as a worthy supporting act. Knockaert’s game isn’t particularly complicated — he gets the ball, he runs at defenders — but he’s adapted well to life in the Premier League and, while his execution is still inconsistent, his relentlessness, and willingness to drive at superior opponents, offers its own value.

The Seagulls may have lost, but they can take heart from this performance. They defended well as usual, but their counter-attack seems to be getting stronger as the season progress. With matches against Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea coming up over the holiday period, the blueprint they followed on Saturday is likely to come in handy again soon.

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Ibrahimovic and Lukaku an odd couple

Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to the United squad for the match against Newcastle last week, coming off the bench with the match already won. His introduction saw Lukaku slide out to the left wing, leading to a new round of questions about whether the two could play together at the same time.

The Brighton game didn’t get us much closer to an answer. Ibrahimovic came on for Anthony Martial with the score still level, initially playing as a number 10, but then moving up front after Young’s goal, with Lukaku playing on the left. They weren’t on the pitch together for long, but neither was particularly impressive.

Lukaku, younger and more mobile than Ibrahimovic, is fast and powerful enough to be useful as a wide player, but his occasionally poor touch and not-great passing ability become much bigger problems when he can’t play as a target forward. Ibrahimovic, in contrast, has the technical quality to play anywhere he wants, but is probably lacking the work ethic Mourinho demands of his wide players and midfielders.

United’s attack often revolves around crosses into the box, and having Lukaku and Ibrahimovic in there together could be a fearsome prospect for opposition defenses, especially those that sit deep and look to frustrate United. If Mourinho can find a way to make them coexist, there could be huge benefits, but the early signs aren’t particularly promising.