Manchester United suffered their third Premier League defeat of the 2023-24 season on Saturday afternoon, with Brighton & Hove Albion winning 3-1 at Old Trafford.
Danny Welbeck made the breakthrough against his former club in the 20th minute, before the Seagulls doubled their advantage early in the second period through Pascal Gross.
Joao Pedro came off the bench to net a third for Brighton in the 71st minute, and although Man United answered straight back through Hannibal Mejbri, Erik ten Hag's side never threatened to launch a late comeback on another difficult afternoon.
The Red Devils have now picked up just six points from five Premier League matches this season, which has left them down in 12th position in the table, while Brighton are up in fourth, boasting 12 points from five matches.
Man United had Rasmus Hojlund and Sergio Reguilon in their starting side at Old Trafford, while Scott McTominay's impressive form for Scotland earned him a start, with Antony not involved due to a personal issue, and Jadon Sancho currently not with the first team due to a disciplinary problem.
Lisandro Martinez also overcame a foot injury to start at the back for the Red Devils, with Diogo Dalot moving across to right-back to allow Reguilon to come into the side.
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, meanwhile, made six changes to the side that started the win over Newcastle United last time out, with in-demand teenager Evan Ferguson, who is being linked with a big-money move to Man United, among those to drop out for the Seagulls.
The home side had the first attempt of the match in the sixth minute when Marcus Rashford dribbled into the Brighton box before attempting to pick out the near post, but Jason Steele made a smart save, before Hojlund headed a Christian Eriksen free kick over the crossbar in the seventh minute.
Hojlund had another chance in the ninth minute when Rashford drilled a low cross into the box after excellent work from Eriksen, but the Denmark international just failed to make contact with the ball after managing to get himself ahead of Lewis Dunk.
Tariq Lamptey, who picked up an early yellow card at Old Trafford, then sent one wide of the post down the other end, with Brighton starting to work their way into the match.
The Seagulls made the breakthrough in the 20th minute of the match, with Simon Adingra working space down the right before delivering a low cross into Welbeck, who found the back of the net from close range after an excellent step-over from Adam Lallana.
Welbeck then curled one over the Man United goal in the 33rd minute, before Rashford had one deflected against the crossbar down the other end following a break towards the penalty box.
Hojlund thought that he had levelled the scores on his debut late in the first period, with the striker finding the bottom corner with a cool finish, but the goal was disallowed, as the ball had just gone out of play before Rashford delivered into his teammate.
Rashford sent one wide of the target in first-half stoppage time, with Brighton surviving some late pressure to enter the half-time interval with a one-goal lead.
Rashford and Gross both had half-chances early in the second period, with Man United committing plenty of players forward in search of a leveller at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils had another opportunity when Rashford broke into the Brighton box after smart work from Hojlund, but the forward's effort was into the side-netting.
Brighton doubled their lead in the 53rd minute, with Gross managing to evade Martinez before finding the bottom corner with an excellent finish past Andre Onana in the Man United sticks.
There were boos around the stadium when Anthony Martial replaced Hojlund off the bench, while there was also a first appearance of the campaign for Hannibal.
Steele kept out a long-range Rashford free-kick in the period that followed, but Brighton were comfortable, with the Seagulls always looking capable of threatening on the counter-attack.
De Zerbi's side made it 3-0 in the 71st minute, with Pedro coming off the bench to find the back of the net, registering with an excellent finish into the far corner of the net.
Man United had a lifeline in the 73rd minute, as Hannibal scored his first Red Devils goal, with the midfielder finding the back of the net with an effort from distance.
Lindelof headed a corner over the crossbar in the period that followed, before Onana saved from Kaoru Mitoma, with both sides threatening more goals at Old Trafford.
Brighton finished the stronger, though, with Ansu Fati bringing a smart save from Onana in the final exchanges, with the away side picking up another three points, leaving Man United with plenty to ponder following their third Premier League loss of the campaign.
The Red Devils will now switch their attention to the Champions League, preparing to head to Bayern Munich for their opening group-stage fixture on Wednesday, before returning to league action at Burnley next Saturday.
Brighton, meanwhile, will host AEK Athens in the Europa League on Thursday before hosting Bournemouth in the league next Sunday afternoon. body check tags ::
