BRIGHTON, England -- For all the talk of a reset under Erik ten Hag, there was a sense of horrible inevitability and familiarity hovering over Manchester United 's 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on a sodden south coast on Saturday. Defensively United were far too porous and though they will point to their unfortunate disallowed goal they managed to self-destruct as Joao Pedro was left unmarked at the back post to head home the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time. It will make for horror viewing in the postmatch analysis when the squad gets back to Carrington.
There were aspects of this performance which looked like a step forward for Ten Hag 2.0. After a summer where he was given a vote of confidence, and license to rebuild his backroom staff, alongside four new signings (so far), this was meant to be the season where we saw the United he's been promising and pointing to since he took charge.
But United lost to Brighton because of errors that have been seen before and should have been eliminated by now. Editor's Picks Premier League first impressions: Is it Man City's to lose? 4d Ian Darke Ranking the top U23 transfers this summer so far 2d Tor-Kristian Karlsen 10 players who could move before transfer deadline day 1d Mark Ogden For both of Brighton's goals, United left players unattended. The first, in the 32nd minute, saw Harry Maguire and Noussair Mazraoui unable to stop a cross from Pedro, and fail to cut out a ball into the six-yard box from Kaoru Mitoma .
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