Erik ten Hag devised a tactic that ended up drawing jeers from Manchester United fans when they faced Brighton. The tactic involved the manager substituting Rasmus Hojlund and bringing on Anthony Martial.
Manchester United suffered a poor result when hosting Brighton in the 5th week of the 2023 Premier League season on Saturday, September 16, 2023. Playing at Old Trafford, the Red Devils suffered a 1-3 defeat to Brighton.
Brighton’s three goals against Andre Onana were scored by Danny Welbeck, Pascal Gross, and Joao Pedro. Meanwhile, Hannibal Mejbri scored a consolation goal for Manchester United.
For Manchester United fans, it was a disappointing result. They even jeered Erik ten Hag due to the tactics he employed. Here’s a complete review of the situation:
Erik ten Hag fielded Rasmud Hojlund from the start. The Danish player provided a good option in the forward line and even scored a goal that was disallowed by the referee for the ball going out of play.
In the 64th minute, Erik ten Hag made a tactical substitution. Two new players were brought on, Hannibal Mejbri and Anthony Martial, while Casemiro and Hojlund were replaced.
According to Mirror, Erik ten Hag’s decision was met with negative reactions from Manchester United fans at Old Trafford.
Erik ten Hag was jeered for substituting Rasmus Hojlund, who was considered to be playing well. Meanwhile, Martial had not been able to deliver a promising performance yet. United fans were puzzled by ten Hag’s player change.
English football pundit Paul Parker had strong opinions about Anthony Martial. He believed the French player was not worthy of playing against Brighton, and that there should be a better young player on the bench, with Hojlund potentially being the main striker.
“All Manchester United fans are tired of seeing a player with a bad attitude who always sulks and complains. It’s a blessing that Manchester United finally has an enthusiastic striker (Hojlund),” he said.
Five reasons why Manchester United lost 1-3 to Brighton & Hove Albion in the 2023-2024 English Premier League season will be discussed here. One of them is the referee’s decision.
The Red Devils, Manchester United, suffered their third defeat in the 2023-2024 Premier League season when playing at Old Trafford on Saturday, September 16, 2023. Brighton’s three goals by Danny Welbeck (20′), Pascal Gross (53′), and Joao Pedro (71′) were only answered by one from the home side, Hannibal Mejbri (73′).
Manchester United had 14 shot attempts throughout the match. In contrast, Brighton only attempted 10 shots.
However, only four out of 14 of Manchester United’s attempts successfully went on target. On the other hand, eight out of Brighton’s 10 shots were on target against Manchester United.
Brighton’s goals demonstrated excellent play by Roberto De Zerbi’s team when controlling the ball in front of the opponent’s goal. In contrast, Manchester United’s defense showed no organization when defending.
Brighton’s attack and Manchester United’s defense were like night and day, resulting in Manchester United’s goal being more easily penetrated by Brighton.
Andre Onana joined from Inter Milan in the summer of this year with the hope of replacing David De Gea. He had an impressive reputation as a goalkeeper who helped Inter Milan reach the Champions League final last season.
Onana had also proven his quality during his time at Ajax Amsterdam. However, his quality at both of those clubs has not been evident since joining Manchester United so far.
Manchester United entered this match with a poor run of form after suffering two defeats in their last three Premier League games of the 2023-2024 season. They only managed to secure one win during that period, a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Nottingham Forest.
Manchester United’s last game before hosting Brighton was a 1-3 defeat to Arsenal. This poor trend continued after facing Roberto De Zerbi’s team.
When the score was still 1-0 in the first half, Manchester United managed to score a goal. Rasmus Hojlund capitalized on the ball from Marcus Rashford, who moved from the left wing of the attack.
However, after a VAR check, Hojlund’s goal was deemed invalid because the ball was considered to have crossed the goal line. This situation was somewhat similar to Japan’s goal in the 2022 World Cup when they defeated Spain 2-1 in the group stage.
However, the tools used for these two incidents were different, VAR and Goal Line Technology (GLT). The referee knew that the ball had not fully crossed the goal line in Japan’s goal because of GLT technology, while Manchester United’s goal was judged based on human vision through VAR.
Manchester United was dismantled in front of their home crowd at Old Trafford. Hosting Brighton, Erik ten Hag’s squad suffered a 3-1 defeat. This negative result further complicates matters for The Red Devils, who have been dealing with internal issues involving Jadon Sancho and Antony that have yet to be resolved.
Former Manchester United player Danny Welbeck opened the scoring for the visiting team in the 20th minute before Pascal Gross doubled the lead in the 53rd minute. As if not satisfied, Joao Pedro added to the home team’s misery in the 71st minute to secure a three-goal lead. In the limited time available, Manchester United could only manage a consolation goal through Hannibal Mejbri in the 73rd minute.
OVERVIEW: With this result, Manchester United slips further down the mid-table position, only accumulating six points from five matches, including three defeats! They are four points adrift from the top four and nine points from the top of the table.
DID YOU KNOW? Manchester United had never suffered a defeat to Brighton at Old Trafford until now. However, since ten Hag became the manager, Manchester United has failed to defeat Brighton. In ten Hag’s debut season in 2022/23, Brighton defeated Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford, and in their second meeting, Red Devils couldn’t find a way to win again, losing 1-0 at the Amex Stadium. When they faced each other in the FA Cup, ten Hag’s team couldn’t beat Brighton, with both matches ending in a goalless draw, excluding the penalty shootout.
WHAT’S NEXT? Manchester United clearly needs to improve quickly if they don’t want to fall further behind in the Premier League race. However, before that, they will face another challenge when visiting Bayern Munich’s home ground for matchday 1 of the Champions League on September 21. Three days later, The Red Devils will visit Burnley. As for Brighton, they will host AEK Athens in the Europa League on September 22 before facing Bournemouth two days later.
