Manchester United need own goal to beat Brighton

Football in the UK

Manchester United needed a a Lewis Dunk own goal to secure a 1-0 win over a courageous Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford yester afternoon.

The Seagulls held their own until the 66th minute when Ashley Young's strike took a huge deflection off the defender and looped over goalkeeper Matt Ryan.

The Red Devils are now unbeaten in a club-record 39 home matches, but Chris Hughton's side arrived with the intention of taking the game to the hosts.

After Romelu Lukaku had blazed over an early shot when well placed on the edge of the box, the visitors more than held their own for the opening half an hour.

Anthony Knockaert was particularly lively down the Brighton left and often got the better of Young without finding the right delivery for Glenn Murray.

Brighton were dangerous on the break but struggled to create opportunities against a defence which has conceded only one home league goal this season.

Similarly, the hosts were unable to break down Albion until a double chance in first-half stoppage time when Lukaku's header forced a good save from Ryan, who blocked Paul Pogba's follow-up with his legs.

United nulified Brighton's counter-attacking threat in the second half and started to push the Seagulls back, but they needed some good fortune to open the scoring.

A corner, which should have been a goal kick after Solly March knocked the ball onto Marcus Rashford, was cleared to Young whose left-footed shot took a big nick off Dunk and dropped underneath the crossbar.

Brighton did not deserve to lose in such an unfortunate manner but they could not find a reponse as cross after cross went into the United box without any- body getting on the end of it.

David de Gea was largely untested throughout, but the rest of his teammates were made to work hard to close out three points which lifted United to within five of leaders Manchester City.

Kane rescues point for Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur have been held to a 1-1 draw at home to managerless West Bromwich Albion yesterday afternoon.

West Brom sacked Tony Pulis earlier this week, but made a perfect start under caretaker boss Gary Megson when Salomon Rondon gave them the lead after less than four minutes.

Spurs toiled away with little reward for much of the match, but Harry Kane ensured that they would not end up emptyhanded with a second-half equaliser which was enough to earn his side a point.

The Baggies went into the match off the back of four straight defeats and without a win in 11 across all competitions, but it took less than four minutes for them to stun Wembley into silence with a shock early opener.

Some sloppy play from Dele Alli in midfield allowed Jake Livermore to win possession and slide a ball through for Rondon, who shrugged off the challenge from Davinson Sanchez before seeing his scuffed finish wrongfoot Hugo Lloris and trickle into the bottom corner.

Spurs quickly took control of possession, but West Brom's disciplined organisation bore all the hallmarks of a Pulis side as they limited the hosts to only a Harry Kane half-chance in the opening 25 minutes.

It wasn't until shortly before the half-hour mark that Tottenham truly threatened the West Brom goal for the first time, with Kane spinning away from Ahmed Hegazi before firing a tame low strike narrowly past the post.

Ben Foster was then called into action for the first time five minutes later, scooping away an awkward strike from Son Heung-min after he had cut inside from the left flank to create space to shoot.

The resulting corner was only cleared as far as Christian Eriksen, but the Dane's dipping halfvolley flew comfortably off target as West Brom continued to limit Spurs to long-range efforts.

Indeed, the hosts' first shot from inside the box of any real note did not arrive until four minutes before half time when Eric Dier rose highest to meet Kieran Trippier's corner, but his header was plucked out of the air by Foster.

Arguably Tottenham's best attacking moment of the half came through Son, who beat Matty Phillips down the left channel before fizzing a low ball across the six-yard box which was begging for a touch that never arrived.

Son came close again once more before the interval when he saw a dipping strike deflect onto the roof of the net, but a frustrated Spurs were forced to go into half time trailing despite dominating the possession.

The hosts quickly picked up where they left off in the second half too, but once again they struggled to create clear chances against a disciplined defensive outfit.

Indeed, it was West Brom who came closest to adding the game's second goal before the hour mark as Matty Phillips cut inside before arrowing a low strike just wide of the far post on a rare foray forward.

Spurs did come close to an equaliser with a little over 20 minutes remaining when a corner was only cleared as far as Trippier, but his scuffed volley bounced across goal and Alli was inches short of getting a touch to it. Yesterday Today Kilmarnock-Aberdeen