Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Man Utd star ends barren run as the Red Devils secure vital win over 10-man Brighton

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after ending goal drought against Brighton at Old Trafford

Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo ended his goal drought as the Red Devils beat 10-man Brighton 2-0 at Old Trafford.

Ralf Rangnick, Ronaldo and United were all under pressure heading into the clash after going winless in their previous three matches. Ronaldo in particular had come in for criticism after failing to score in six outings, his longest barren run at club level since 2008/09.

But the 37-year-old was on hand to give his team three crucial points in the Premier League, and his celebrations showed exactly what it meant to him.

Rangnick made two initial changes, as Fred and Anthony Elanga came in for Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford respectively. There was another swap shortly before kick-off as Victor Lindelof replaced Raphael Varane, with the Frenchman suffering from illness.

Potter made three changes as Leandro Trossard, Alexis MacAllister and Yves Bissouma replaced Adama Lallana, Tariq Lamptey and Danny Welbeck.

United looked nervous early on as David de Gea gave the ball away inside five minutes. Fred then did the same, allowing the Seagulls to pounce. Jakub Moder went on to force a decent stop from de Gea at a tight angle.

United’s best chance of the first half came next. This time it was a mistake from Brighton, as Adam Webster miscontrolled, allowing Ronaldo to capitalise. He played in Jadon Sancho and the England winger should have scored, only to be kept out by Robert Sanchez.

Fred, Pascal Gross, Man Utd vs Brighton

Brighton grew more confident as the half went on and were regularly finding holes in United’s formation. They then had two good chances before the interval.

Joel Veltman put in a pinpoint cross and Moder rose to meet it, forcing a top save from de Gea.

The Red Devils did not learn their lesson and Bissouma then linked up with Neal Maupay and Moder to get into a dangerous position. The midfielder, a transfer target for Aston Villa, hit a powerful first-time effort but could not keep it on target.

United were demonstrating lacklustre pressing, resulting in the commentator describing their efforts as ‘testimonial pace’. The first half then came to an end and the United players were booed by their home fans as they headed down the tunnel.

United were a largely different outfit after the interval and bagged the opening goal six minutes into the second half. McTominay won the ball from Bissouma and Ronaldo did the rest. He skipped past Webster before firing a venomous strike into the bottom corner, leaving Sanchez on the spot. Ronaldo sprinted to the home fans and celebrated wildly following the end of his barren run.

Things went from bad to worse for Brighton as they had a man sent off soon afterwards. Lewis Dunk was caught out this time, as Elanga tried to go through on goal but was brought down by the centre-back. The referee initially gave a yellow, though after a VAR review it was changed to red.

Potter had to amend his tactics, going on to replace Trossard and Pascal Gross with Lamptey and Steven Alzate.

Ronaldo could have secured his brace in the 66th minute when rising to head a Bruno Fernandes cross, but Sanchez was equal to it.

The Portuguese pair then swapped roles as Ronaldo played in his compatriot following a Sanchez error. Fernandes had the goal at his mercy but the shot-stopper guessed right and kept United out once again.

Paul Pogba came on to replace Fred in midfield, with Ronaldo and Fernandes soon at it yet again. The attacking midfielder whipped in a delightful cross for Ronaldo but United’s number seven failed to make it 2-0.

Brighton were still in the game however and offered United a warning sign in the 78th minute. Moder hit a dipping effort from range which caught de Gea out. The in-form keeper was beaten, but he was lucky to see it come back off the crossbar.

Rangnick once again turned to his bench as Rashford came on for Elanga, with Alex Telles replacing Sancho too.

Brighton kept on pressing, but United finally ended their hopes in stoppage time as Fernandes caught them on the counter before firing into the net. The victory saw Rangnick’s team leapfrog West Ham into fourth spot. They are now four points behind third-placed Chelsea, although Thomas Tuchel’s side do have a game in hand on them.

Defeat for Brighton meanwhile leaves them in ninth spot, with 33 points from 24 matches.

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