United floor Brighton with a Bruno knockout
Maupay (40, pen), March (90)
Dunk (43, og), Rashford (55), Fernandes (90, pen) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was relieved to benefit from a winning goal “scored after the final whistle” following Manchester United’s dramatic win at Brighton.
Bruno Fernandes converted from the penalty spot with the last kick of the game 10 minutes into added time to snatch three points for United from a crazy, incidentpacked encounter.
Referee Chris Kavanagh had initially blown for full-time before awarding the spot-kick having consulted the pitchside monitor and opting to penalise Neal Maupay for handball.
United boss Solskjaer admitted his side were fortunate to avoid dropping points for the second successive match following last weekend’s shock loss to Crystal Palace, and he wants his players to make a habit of grabbing late goals.
The Norwegian also joked he was grateful his predecessor Jose Mourinho was not at the Amex Stadium to measure the goal posts after impressive Albion remarkably struck the woodwork five times.
“I don’t think we’ve ever scored after the final whistle, that’s right. But, of course, the handball was before full-time, so it’s probably the right thing to do,” said Solskjaer.
“And for us it’s a big thing. We have discussed it this season, we need to score more late goals.
“We were the team that lost the fewest games – apart from Liverpool – last season. But we drew too many.
“To get two extra points after conceding the equaliser so late on is a great boost for us.
“We’ve got to be honest enough to say they created the most chances, probably 50-50ish possession.
“But they had loads of shots, they had big
chances. We need to improve a lot in the weeks coming forward,” added Solskjaer.
Albion took the lead when Maupay, who registered a brace at Newcastle last weekend, audaciously dinked home from 12 yards after Fernandes was penalised for a challenge on Tariq Lamptey.
Having secured the advantage their display merited, the Seagulls surrendered it just 194 seconds later to go in level at the break.
Fernandes’ pacey free-kick from the left was turned across goal by Nemanja Matic before Lewis Dunk, under pressure from Harry Maguire, diverted in the fifth Premier League goal of his career
Brighton, buoyed by three successive wins without conceding, were playing with plenty of confidence and stretching the pitch at every opportunity as United stuttered.
The hosts thought they had an opportunity to quickly regain the lead within two minutes of the restart.
But, after initially penalising Paul Pogba for a trip on Aaron Connolly, Kavanagh reversed his decision after watching the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Minutes later it was United’s turn to be thwarted by VAR. Marcus Rashford turned the ball into the net but, despite the flag not originally going up, he was clearly offside.
However, Rashford was not to be denied for long and he put United 2-1 up with a fine individual effort.
After collecting the ball from Fernandes, he danced around the Seagulls defence during a mazy run which received the emphatic finish it deserved.
Brighton were far from beaten and deserved a point at the very least. Solly March saw a low effort rebound off the inside of the right post, before Leandro Trossard completed a hat-trick of sorts by thumping against the bar.
United, who return here in the fourth round of the League Cup on Wednesday evening, looked to have survived the pressure before the unmarked March sparked wild celebrations by nodding in from close range.
However, there was a late twist in the tale. Players from both teams surrounded match official Kavanagh during a remarkable ending to the game which culminated in Fernandes’ calm spot-kick after Maguire headed against the outstretched arm of Maupay.
Amid the melee, the Portugal international was the calmest man in the stadium as he duly dispatched the ball into the top corner.
Brighton boss Graham Potter conceded that losing a “rollercoaster” encounter in such dramatic circumstances was painful.
“It was a bit of rollercoaster, to say the least. A fantastic performance from us, we did so much well and played with real courage, real quality,” he said.
“Obviously, very, very sore to lose, but we have to try and be as philosophical as we can and focus on the things we did well.
“We had such a high in terms of when we scored our equaliser because I felt we deserved that.
“From our perspective, we are just very disappointed,” added Potter.