Brighton rock Seagulls down United to guarantee Premier League safety
Brighton last night secured their Premier League safety with a memorable victory over a Manchester United side who were accused by manager Jose Mourinho of lacking “commitment and ambition”.
In a withering attack on his ineffective forwards, Mourinho said his side’s abject performance was proof that his players “are not as good as people think”. The United manager, who has now overseen defeats by all three of the Premier League’s promoted teams this season, said the performance of his fringe players provided an answer to why he “always” picks the likes of Romelu Lukaku, who missed the game through injury, and Alexis Sanchez.
Mourinho started with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial in attack for only the second time since the turn of the year, and both struggled to make any impact as Brighton controlled the game and claimed the three points that ensure they will return to Premier League action next season.
“For many months you are always asking why this player does not play, why this player is on the bench, why always Lukaku? I know my players better than you, and you do not know them so well to be always asking these questions,” said Mourinho, whose side remain in second place but will need to improve dramatically if they are to have any chance of defeating Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
“You have the answer now when you ask ‘why always Lukaku?’ We are probably not as good as people think we are individually.”
Mourinho did not single out individuals by name, but it was clear that his frustrations, which he repeated in multiple post-match interviews, were directed towards Rashford, Martial and Juan Mata, the third member of his attacking trio. Rashford, in particular, provoked his manager’s anger during the first half when he spurned a rare opportunity by hesitating on the ball and destroying the United attack. “It was not good enough,” Mourinho said. “The players that replaced others did not perform at a good level and when individuals do that it is difficult for the team to play. Maybe now you will not ask me why A, B and C do not play so much.”
Mourinho also moved to absolve himself from blame for the lifeless performance, saying that he had repeatedly warned his squad of the need to match Brighton’s attitude.
“If you ask them [the players] they will tell you how long I spoke and how long I tried before the game, during the week, trying to anticipate the scenario and trying to persuade them that the only way to compete against a team like Brighton is to have the same commitment and ambition they have. The attitude from the first minute and especially in the first half, they [Brighton] had more appetite. I did not succeed in persuading my players that getting the points is important. It is for me, but perhaps not for them.”
Brighton’s winner was scored by Pascal Gross, who headed home Jose Izquierdo’s cross at the start of a frantic second half. The ball appeared to be cleared by Marcos Rojo, the United defender, but was eventually judged to have crossed the line by goal-line technology.
Brighton had already gone close to taking the lead though Glenn Murray, who had tested United goalkeeper David de Gea with a thunderous volley in the first half, and could have scored a second when Izquierdo fired wide soon after they had taken the lead.
Chris Hughton, the Brighton manager, said the circumstances of the victory were “ideal”, adding that United had hardly threatened Mathew Ryan’s goal. “Normally when you win this type of game it’s because you’ve played at a good level and United haven’t,” Hughton said. “Maybe your keeper has to make some good saves and they’ve missed some chances. But they didn’t have a clear-cut chance in 90
minutes, and Matty had to make a couple of decent saves only. We were good value for the win. It’s given us Premier League survival.”
The result could not have been better timed for Brighton, who had not won since March 4 and were growing increasingly anxious at the prospect of being dragged into the relegation dogfight. Their remaining two fixtures of the season are against Manchester City and Liverpool, so Hughton was naturally relieved that they will not need to get a result from those away matches.
“It’s a relief, because even going into the game I felt that we have deserved to stay in this league for our season’s work,” Hughton said. “But if we’d lost today and the next two, it would have been a real feeling of injustice had we gone down.”
Brighton were helped by a phenomenal performance from Anthony Knockaert, the winger who was at his twinkle-toed best in their final home game of the season. “He has had some fabulous games,” Hughton said. “That topped it.”