Across four days Manchester United have lost the 199th derby against Manchester City, were told by JJ Gabriel that he wants to leave, and now they have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Brighton. Capitulating after being 2-0 up may be the pick of these dizzying blows, as the prolonged boos at the final whistle suggested, and doing so ends a proud 50-year record: the last time the same lead at Old Trafford ended in defeat was Tottenham’s 3-2 win in September 1976. When Marcus Rashford skated in with the chance to take the tie to 3-3 late on, there was no surprise he hit Jason Steele rather than the net.
Towards the end, Matheus Cunha was thrown on to join Bruno Fernandes, also a late substitute, illustrating how desperate Michael Carrick was. Yet Charalampos Kostoulas went close to scoring a second for Brighton, as United could not find a route to cancelling out Maxim De Cuyper’s 69th-minute strike that proved the winner. After taking only four points from 12 in the league, serious questions will now be asked about where Carrick’s team are heading; they have to beat Fulham on Sunday to start correcting a dismal start to the season.
The manager already looks haunted and he talked afterwards of not caring about being under pressure. Carrick said the injustice suffered against City on Sunday would give his side an edge and Shea Lacey provided one when decorating a full debut with the sweetest of goals. The 19-year-old shimmied in Brighton’s area, beating Jaouen Hadjam before firing beyond a helpless Jason Steele.
As impressive here was Benjamin Sesko’s hold-up work in the buildup as this allowed red shirts to flood forward, Youri Tielemans feeding Lacey. This was eight minutes in and less than 120 seconds later Mason Mount doubled United’s advantage. Rashford’s pace and drive took him clear along the left, again inside the area.
A trailing Steele boot saved the No 9’s effort but the ball bounced into Mount’s path and he drove home, via the turf, for a first goal since a win at Wolves last December. Lacey’s strike drew a Carrick grin and delight from Mount, and you wondered how Gabriel – earmarked for the squad in this game, with the chance to become United’s youngest player – felt. Brighton had lost only one of their previous five visits here and a flying start to the league campaign has Fabian Hürzeler’s team in fifth.
Yet the 5-0 hammering of Coventry on Sunday already seemed distant as United continued to dominate. Olivier Boscagli hit a corner straight out, summing up the visitors’ start, before Matt O’Riley forced Ayden Heaven into an error that led to another. This presaged a Seagulls renaissance that featured a lightning Malick Yalcouyé break but, clear in on the debutant Karl Darlow’s goal, the Ivorian spooned wide.
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