“We got away with one.”
Manchester United are trying to play themselves into form but they have looked nothing short of dreadful in their first two Premier League games of the season.
The United team that roared back into the restarted 2019/20 season would have mopped the floor with Crystal Palace and Brighton. Instead, at the start of 2020/21, Palace deservedly beat United at Old Trafford and Brighton will wonder how they did not repeat the feat.
In two games against two middling, if game, sides, United have allowed 31 attempts on their goal and have conceded five times.
United trailed Brighton 1-0 after a Neil Maupay penalty but they responded almost immediately when Lewis Dunk, under pressure from Harry Maguire, put the ball into his own net. Marcus Rashford then put United 2-1 up with a wonderful goal, only for Olé Gunnar Solskjaer’s men to go into their shells.
Solskjaer took Mason Greenwood and Paul Pogba off – sticking on Fred and Eric Bailly – and United dropped back into their own half. It was a shocking admission that his side were struggling and it ceded the initiative to a side that finished 15th in the table last season.
Leandro Trossard managed to strike the post three times and the crossbar once, Adam Webster had a header hit the crossbar and Solly March missed three golden opportunities.
Over on BT Sport, Robbie Savage surmised that early season games are all about the end result and that the performances would, in time, be forgotten. As United clung on, their fans must have taken some comfort in that. Their side would surely improve over the coming weeks. Surely.
However, with the game heading into the fourth minute of injury time, we were not done yet.
A cross to the back post caught United’s defence out for the umpteenth time. Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Bailly were drawn like a moth to the flame, Aaron Wan-Bissaka was caught out under the ball and Bruno Fernandes let March go. 2-2 and half of the United team slumped to the ground.
There was still time for one last United attack and Donny van de Beek, who in reality was thrown on as a time-wasting substitute for Anthony Martial, won his side a corner. Van de Beek has proved a rare bright spot in United’s opening fixtures and one could only imagine his frustration at being stuck on the bench for 89 minutes as his new side struggled.
Fernandes swung the corner in, Maguire got a header on goal and March cleared off the line. The final whistle sounded but United were convinced there should be a VAR check for a Maupay hand-ball.
Bruno Fernandes scores a spot-kick in the 100th minute against Brighton. (Credit: Getty Images)As it transpired, referee Chris Kavanagh was advised to check the pitch-side monitor and the penalty was given. The clock was restarted and Fernandes – the coolest man on the pitch – dispatched the winner with 100 minutes gone on the clock.
It was the last kick of the game and Solskjaer admitted his side had got lucky. He told BT Sport:
“We got away with one, I have to say… maybe one point is what we deserved. I don’t think we deserved more. Maybe our character deserved more.”
“They created too much, for my liking,” the United boss added, “but they’re a difficult team to play against.”
United will be doing well, on current evidence, to bridge the gap between themselves and the league’s top two sides, Liverpool and Manchester City. Rescuing three points after a rag order performance could yet prove crucial in how their season turns out. Had they started their league campaign with 0 points from two games, the pressure on their faltering players would have been huge.
Brighton manager Graham Potter sought to shake off his shell-shock for his post-match interview and said he felt his side’s equaliser had been the last kick of the game.
He did not raise too much of a stink over the late, late United penalty and accepted the decision, earlier in the half, to cancel out a penalty that had been awarded when Paul Pogba was adjudged to have fouled Aaron Connolly.
“From where I was, I thought Aaron got the wrong side of [Pogba] and there was contact. After that, it is up to the referee and VAR to decide.”
That was another decision that saw Kavanagh consult the pitch-side monitor and Brighton rue their ill luck.
For United, they have registered their first points of the Premier League season. To add to that total, they will need to make a lot of improvements.
Freshening up the squad – with crucial INS and OUTS needed – would not harm, either.
