Premier League: Brighton 0-3 Manchester United
Sussex by the sea will host Conference League football next season even if Brighton could not keep their side of the bargain. They let their fate drop from their control, their fans enduring an anxious afternoon of relying on results elsewhere and a decent 5G connection. Eventually, as players and coaches stood in the centre circle, the good news arrived.
“It was the worst time for this performance from us but we have to look at it overall in what we achieved,” said the Brighton head coach, Fabian Hürzeler. “We are Brighton, we are in Europe for a second time, we should be celebrating that achievement. It’s important you see where we came from.”
At 6.01pm, European football was secured by events on Merseyside and Wearside. Manchester United, third place and Champions League football long secured, had dazzled Brighton in hot sun in the first game of Michael Carrick’s reign as permanent manager. History had been made by Bruno Fernandes supplying a record 21st assist of the Premier League season for Patrick Dorgu’s opener.
A summer of expectation awaits for United. They have come a long way since Ruben Amorim’s adolescent constipation. Can the improvements made under Carrick sustain them next season? “It’s not ended here, we want to keep building,” said Carrick. “That’s the foundation we need to show. I am delighted to be here for longer.”
Casemiro has already bade a fond farewell, leaving a gap in midfield that United must fill. Atalanta’s Éderson is reported to be the most likely candidate where, last summer, Brighton’s Carlos Baleba was a player in whom United had serious interest. Baleba was dropped here for James Milner, whose future is opaque, and was unable to impress his former admirer, his appearance coming way after the game was lost. “Let’s see in the coming days,” said Hürzeler of what future awaits Milner.
In Casemiro’s former position, Mason Mount, his United career yet to find much momentum, was alongside Kobbie Mainoo, dropping deeper than when alongside his Brazilian mentor. Fernandes, chasing the record Roy Keane has dismissed as frippery, issued Keane-style invective as United made their slow start. “He’s such an influence,” said Carrick.
United fans concerned themselves with celebrating the departure of Pep Guardiola before, as the visitors began to enjoy a spell of possession, Sussex anxieties started to surface. News from elsewhere led to chatter. Live tables were checked, permutations picked over. Was the presence of Gordon Smith, introduced to the crowd beforehand and infamous for his 1983 FA Cup final miss against United, an omen?
United had appeared unhurried before Fernandes, after dallying over a corner, landed his record assist. His outswinger was met by Dorgu’s towering header. That relegated Brighton from Europa League to Conference League. “He has a natural instinct for creation and he did it again today,” said Carrick of his captain.
Bryan Mbeumo’s goal, created by a brilliant interchange between Fernandes and Amad Diallo, sent home fans scurrying to the concourses for half-time restitution. On the sidelines Hürzeler’s angry reaction was matched by that of Milner. After the break Yankuba Minteh arrived but United had the ball in the net within four minutes, Fernandes lashing in Dorgu’s pass. An offside flag curtailed the celebrations, only for them to resume once the video assistant referee ruled Dorgu had been onside.
Any contest decided, United turned on the tricks and flicks. Home fans’ attentions turned to Anfield, where a Brentford win would deny Brighton, as might a Chelsea win at Sunderland, convolutions way beyond their team’s ken. A collective head loss was in full session. “We couldn’t react well to the goals,” said Hürzeler. “You have to make the best out of it and in the end the best was the results from the other games. We have to be grateful for that.”
For United, on came Shea Lacey, a teenager last seen receiving a red card in the FA Cup loss to Brighton during the interregnum that followed Amorim’s departure. So did Tyler Fletcher, whose father, Darren, presided over that Cup tie. Cameo roles in a season where the United soap opera took several plot twists but ended in an equilibrium rarely enjoyed in the post-Ferguson era. “Getting younger players on the pitch is what we are at this club,” said Carrick.
Impotent rage among Brighton’s fans was followed by an interminable wait for the news of Brentford falling short at Liverpool and Chelsea’s loss. Only then could the celebrations begin, though Milner, professional to the end, refused to take part.
