Team v individuals: Brighton showed Man United the value of togetherness

The summer break seems to have flown by with so much happening, from player sales to the Women’s Euros. It only feels like yesterday that Brighton beat West Ham in the final game of 2021-22 and here we were, another much awaited new Premier League season getting underway on Friday evening.

Arsenal away at Crystal Palace kicked us off. Having watched on television as Arsenal won 2-0, I felt the football was nowhere near as good as what we had seen from the Albion in the last few matches at the end of last season. Little did I know that Brighton were to be even better in their opener away at Manchester United on Sunday.

Before we talk about Old Trafford, there are two other things I am going to tackle. The first was the Brighton Fans’ Forum, held on Thursday 4th August in the Mayo Wynne Baxter lounge at the Amex.

The evening was hosted by Mr Johnny Cantor from BBC Radio Sussex. On the podium taking fans’ questions from the 300 odd supporters present were chief executive officer and deputy chairman Mr Paul Barber and head coach Mr Graham Potter.

It was a very informative event. We were given straight answers to everything asked, especially about the man with the black curly hair whose future seemed likely to dominate the evening.

In the end, only one question was put forward about Marc Cucurella and that came from host Johnny right at the start. Cucurella went onto be sold the following morning, making football history as the most expensive full back ever at a fee in excess of £60 million pounds.

He was only with us a year and is now following his personal goals – to play Champions league football and hopefully make the Spanish World Cup Squad in November of this year.

You may remember that I was the one who raised the question of the failing ladies toilet in the East Upper on behalf of my wife during the January Fans’ Forum. Thankfully, it was addressed ahead of the Amex hosting three games of the Women’s Euros.

I did submit a question. There was no time for it to be covered, however, during the hour long radio broadcast. It related to the big pitch side screens in the ground and whether, when budgets allow, additional ones could be hung on the West Stand and East Stand.

Along with new screens, I wanted to know if a timer clock could cover the minutes played in injury time. This might even assist the players on the pitch if they can see exactly how long is left? I stand to be corrected, of course!

The other thing I wanted to briefly mention is my new book. WeAreBrighton.com gave their blessing for me to publish all my articles from last year in a book, titled The Seagulls Best Ever Season.

They appear in chronological format in the form of a diary, charting Brighton finishing in their highest position in their history. It was published a couple of weeks ago and is now available in both paperback format and Kindle. You can buy from Amazon using this link.

So, to Sunday at Old Trafford. The sun shone and Johnny and Warren Aspinall treated us to a great photo on Twitter of them enjoying the Manchester weather before they began their commentary duties.

Sky decided that they would show us Manchester United winning 3-2 against Liverpool from 2010 before starting their own live broadcast.

Of course, they were not going to show the last time United played Brighton, where we beat them 4-0 at the Amex in May

United came out to warm up wearing training tops which made them look like Jokers from a set of playing cards. That was made to seem quite apt by the full time whistle, at the same time as making the new Albion home shirt appear positively brilliant in comparison.

The headline news was that Cristiano Ronaldo was on the bench under new manager Erik ten Hag. Ronaldo eventually appeared at the start of the second half, but the Albion dealt with him very well and he made no difference to the United performance.

Don’t get me wrong, he has been the best player in the world in the past. He does not look very happy with his current situation at Old Trafford and that seems to be impacting his performances. I am off to Madeira in September, so I will see if I can have a word about a fresh start for him at the Amex.

Ronaldo had barely taken his seat on the United bench when Brighton had the first chance of the game. Just 15 seconds in and Leandro Trossard hit David De Gea’s side netting.

United settled after that and the Albion did not have the possession they would normally like for the first eight to 10 minutes.

Bruno Fernandes should have scored when he sent a shot miles over the goal from a very good position. It was a terrible miss for a player of his quality and experience.

Danny Welbeck, Adam Lallana, Moises Caicedo and Trossard helped to get Brighton on top after that. The positive, flowing football we had seen at the end of 2021-22 was back, as if the Albion had not been on a summer break.

Ten Hag was realising what a big job he had on his hands. Looking even glummer were the Glazer family, sat in the crowd and watching Pascal Gross take his record to six goals against United with a quick double.

Welbeck arrived on the left side after some superb football, working a cross in front of the United goal. Gross came in at the far post, making no mistake to put the Albion 1-0 up with 30 minutes played.

Next came the move of the match. Brighton appeared to be getting closed into their left back position until Trossard backheeled the ball out of there.

Caicedo had earlier survived a disgraceful studs up challenge from Scott McTominay to carry the ball forward and find Gross.

Gross moved it to Lallana, Lallana found Solly March and his low hard cross was pushed away by the hand of David De Gea. The ball ended up right at the feet of Gross who slotted home his second goal in nine minutes.

Old Trafford has seen some fantastic football in its time. Not many away teams will have scored a goal that good though. Brighton were making one of the most famous club’s in the world look positively poor.

We all know from many past experiences that no lead is safe against United. If they cannot find a way to comeback, then the officials will do it for them – even if the final whistle has already blown.

United also had Ronaldo to throw on. I was surprised that he was not introduced right away at the start of the second half. Ronaldo’s one contribution once he did enter came shortly after his introduction.

A low cross from the right reached Marcus Rashford, who nobody realised had been playing up to this point. Rashford connected with the ball well but Robert Sanchez pulled off a world class save to keep it out.

United were starting to come at Brighton now. They scored when Alexis Mac Allister was unlucky to put into his own net attempting to clear in a scramble from a corner. That set up a nervy last 20 minutes.

Christian Eriksen had a low shot which needed another great stop from Sanchez. Joel Veltman cleared when Sanchez spilled a ball in the danger zone. Lewis Dunk made a great sliding block as injury time beckoned.

The additional five minutes seemed to go on for an eternity. The Seagulls all kept their beaks up and ploughed on until the final whistle, securing a famous first ever win at Old Trafford.

BBC Radio Sussex was full of fans praising Graham Potter and his squad afterwards and rightly so. The Albion continued where they had left off nine weeks ago, when they ended 2021-22 with only one defeat from eight games.

If that form holds in 2022-23, we can look forward to a really exciting season. Brighton showed United that a group working together in harmony is more effective than a set of talented, highly paid individuals not willing to perform as a team.

There will be less successful days than this on the road ahead. When these come, just remember the feeling of winning 2-1 away at Man United.

Games like this are worth their weight in gold. And they make you proud to be an Albion supporter.

Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony