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Joao Pedro’s (22) 95th-minute header secured all three points for Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium as they prevailed 2-1, a result which sees them record a fifth victory in six head-to-head encounters.
Both of these teams kicked off the campaign with victories last weekend, although Brighton’s 3-0 dismantling of Everton was more impressive than United’s late triumph over Fulham. It was the hosts who started the better on South Coast, too, with Joao Pedro’s admittedly tame shot from outside the area around the 10-minute mark the first attempt from either side.
The Red Devils were solid if unspectacular, but Amad Diallo really should have done better at the back post after being found by a fantastic Diogo Dalot cross. It has been a busy summer for Brighton, with seven new signings and another two potentially on the way in Ferdi Kadıoğlu and Matt O’Reilly, yet it was one of their more experienced players who broke the deadlock with 31 minutes on the clock.
A searching ball made its way to Kaoru Mitoma at the back post, and his low cross was bundled home by former United player Danny Welbeck. Erik ten Hag’s men thought they had restored parity shortly after, but Marcus Rashford was in an offside position when he fortuitously netted at the second attempt from close range.
United subsequently offered little for the rest of the first half, and they were second best initially after the interval too. In fact, they were fortunate not to fall two behind when Welbeck struck the bar with a header from close range. Eventually, though, the visitors began to show their class and equalized with around 30 minutes remaining. A clever through ball from Noussair Mazraoui found Diallo, who drove inside and fired home via a Jan Paul Van Hecke deflection.
The two sides pushed forward in their search for a winner, and the game’s decisive moment almost came following an end-to-end passage of play. Brighton had a numerical advantage in the final third, but Yankuba Minteh’s poor decision-making allowed United to counterattack. Yet, while they had the ball in the back of the net once more when substitute Joshua Zirkzee kneed Alejandro Garnacho’s shot into an empty net, it was chalked off as the Netherlands international was in an offside position when doing so – a rather unfortunate outcome for Ten Hag and Co. considering Garnacho’s initial strike would have rippled the back of the net regardless.
Although the game continued in much the same manner, it seemed as though no one would be able to apply the finishing touch. However, that was until Pedro nodded home Adingra’s chipped ball unmarked to send the home crowd into raptures. Two wins from two is the perfect start for new Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, while Ten Hag will be disappointed with his side’s inability to stand firm in the match’s final stages.
