[Abraxas]

The first half was strange, I thought we started the game with good motivation and desire to win the ball. In particular Fred and Greenwood were looking well up for it. But the goal seemed to immediately set us back which was disappointing.

The second half was fairly good, however. Not earth shattering but we were enough of a threat. I wasn't too pleased with the last 5 mins, our usual trick of giving away very silly set pieces to a team clearly relishing the prospect.

 

[AndyMUFC]

Weren't great by any means but have a habit of keeping going and winning from behind. Next step is to stop going behind at all!

 

[Dante]

Maguire was our best player today from the first to the last minute. But I can't begrudge Greenwood winning the MOTM vote. He did brilliantly to get on the end of that.

 

[yamo123x]

Another scrappy performance, still baffled by Ole's style of play.

Two players who get a lot of stick were our best players tonight, Maguire and Fred.

Rashford other than his goal was awful.
Cavani looked short and starved of any service

Pleased for Mason.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Top four secured after that result you feel.

On to the Europa quarter-final.

Think the gap helps us as there are so many teams fighting for that fourth place.

 

[OLLY ORANGE]

AWB needs dropping against sides who sit back where we need to try and break down.
Such an awful attacking threat down that right hand side.
His decision making, ability and final ball are not where they should be for a utd full back.
Even his decision making/positioning in defensive situations is also concerning.
His ability defending one on one down the flanks is for all to see but this does not a justify a starting place each week.

 

[Red_Aaron]

Excellent win, thought we really stuck to the task second half and got our just rewards in the end

Brighton were never going to sustain the energy levels of the first half not only were they pressing high they also sprinted back to get every body behind the ball when we broke through the press. They were 2 gears lower second half and we showed great composure

Good to see 2 forwards on the score sheet too hopefully they kick on as we're now into the business end

Hard game but I'm really pleased with that today

 

[SirScholes]

Decent win after international break

I can’t tell whether rashford helps or hinders the team
No doubt his contribution in stats is big but his first instinct being to score a screamer hampers our attacking play so much
How many goals do city score with wingers getting to the byline for a pull back
And we have Cavani in the middle to pick up those crosses

 

[stubie]

Not the best but got the job done eventually

Very impressed with Ben White

 

[edcunited1878]

First match coming out of an intl break and it wasn't that bad. Brighton played a huge part in stopping United have any fluidity in the final 3rd with a backline of 5 and funneling all balls to the wide areas, especially to AWB. Job done, onto the next.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

It's lovely when a team who have been time wasting all game get turned around and are suddenly outraged about time wasting.

Eat shite, Brighton.

There's nothing more pure in football

 

[RedIan]

Started quite brightly, brighton scored gainst the run of play after a Mistake by pogba and we went to rat shit. pogba and Bruno were poor fist half... cavani didnt half a kick.
2nd half 60 minutes in we started to play and Brighton paid the price for sitting back.

Vital points in a ground out result.

 

[MrBest]

We are a badly coached and managed side but we keep steeling results, I can't complain. At this stage of the season, i don't care how we win, we just need to cement top 4 as soon as possible. I think 4 more wins should have us uncomfortable in the top 4, it would be great to finish second but 3rd and the Europa League would be equally as good.

My view on the performance is two fold, pathetic in the first half and average in the second half. I really do wonder what this team could achieve if we could be good in the first half and excellent in the second. It is almost as if we don't know how to get to 5th gear, and just put cruise control on in the 3rd gear.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Rashford coming off again is very concerning. Cavani and Greenwood as a our main strikers???

 

[Random Task]

Think the gap helps us as there are so many teams fighting for that fourth place.

They've all got to play one another too.

 

[TwoSheds]

Dont be too hard on us tonight. Their team was practically fresh.

What were probably 4 of our 5 worst performers were "fresh". Wan-Bissaka, Rashford, Greenwood and Lindelof all either didn't play for their countries or went home early to rest up. Don't get me wrong, great goals from Rashford and Greenwood but I have to say they were poor in the general play. Fred would have been fresh too I think although he played slightly better than the others.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

You never know how games go immediately after the international break but second half was quality.

 

[Fanta Stick]

I had a Russian commentary today and more than once I heard him say "Jekyll & Hyde"...

 

[Scholes_boi]

It's lovely when a team who have been time wasting all game get turned around and are suddenly outraged about time wasting.

Eat shite, Brighton.

Yeah I agree, makes me shout: 'it's what you *** deserve!' at the TV xD.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

I think we got away with one there at the end. Maguire's challenge on Welbeck could have been given, which would have been a red and a penalty. One camera angle it looked certain, the other it looked iffy.

We started brightly for once but couldn't make it count. We are still missing attacking guile. Getting the ball wide to AWB is not a useful tactic. Corners are not goal-scoring opportunities the way we play. Rashford and Greenwood are asked to go on mazy 1v1s to set up scoring chances or to get fouled in the box. Still lacking creativity.

I think Dunk is good at what he does, Maguire could learn from him.

Fred shockingly had a good game.

 

[chiz2kul]

How was that not a penalty for Brighton?

 

[Random Task]

Man Utd 0:1 Brighton - Welbeck (13')

Man Utd 1:1 Brighton - Bruno (62')

Man Utd 2:1 Brighton - Greenwood (83')

Bruno and Greenwood's goals aren't showing up in your post.

Welbeck's is however.

 

[simplyared]

Luke Shaw was faultless today. Posters complaining about Rashfords performance have no idea. He's still our no 1 player. Priceless! Maguire is our Rolls Royce and Fred put a great shift in although still needs to tidy it up a tad. Good team performance. I'm as happy as a pig in shit. 3 pts on the board!

 

[Scholes_boi]

Deserved win but we need to create more. Our players stand still way too much. At one point in the second half Bruno got the ball from the left and cut in to the top of the box and took a shot. As he is shooting we had 4 players in the box and every one of them was standing still. The shot was straight at the keeper and came to nothing. Make a run. Any run. You may get a tip on the shot and we go up earlier....

AWB and Lindelof have to do better. Both with their back to Welbeck. Take a step back and open up so you can see the play and the open man...

It's as though they haven't learned anything from Cavani. Why haven't they been paying attention to his runs and how he scored in the first half of the season? Is it a coaching thing? Pure mentality or both? Maybe it's an ego thing?

It particularly annoys me when our playmakers either take ridiculous pot-shots or take heavy touches in key areas.

 

[NoLogo]

I know I should be happier about another 3 points but I'm somehow not. I simply don't get how we are making zero progress as a team it feels like these games are for us just as hard to win or play well in as it was 4 or 5 years ago. It just frustrates the hell out of me even though I want to be happy that we can reach probably the best league position since that second place under Mou.

 

[Barthez]

Hopefully those in the match day thread have calmed down now. It gets worse and worse in there.

 

[city-puma]

Due to our striker crisis, I was not feeling well at all prior to the match. Hope Ole can find a real solution for the rest of the season.

 

[Poborsky's hair]

Another scrappy performance, still baffled by Ole's style of play.

Two players who get a lot of stick were our best players tonight, Maguire and Fred.

Rashford other than his goal was awful.
Cavani looked short and starved of any service

Pleased for Mason.

Easily our most realiable players this season, whatever people say, the problem is our productivity. Bruno very inconsitent but shouldnt be pulling it just himself. Pogba too moody but let's wait, he only came form injury and plays deeper now. Rashford unfortunately seem far from the player who should be competing with Mbappe for the best young striker. Need his confidence back but he's also a player who enjoys more space to run into and Brigthon were really organized..

I think we should do whetever it takes to get Jack Grealish, the player would put pressure on both Rashford and Bruno while Pogba wouldn't be safe either. Grealish is a very consistent dribbler and chance creator unlike the all at times world class but too erratic aforementioned players.

But yeah points in the bag. Can't argue against three points. Just need more consistently performing palyers or a world class manager to push our team to consistent dominating game play and results. Otherwise it will be like today a lot.

 

[JakeC]

I really hope Brighton stay up, I like how they play.

 

[Rossa]

A difficult watch. At HT I knew it was in us to win but it was terrible stuff. Lovely finish from Rashford...we say it all the time, the less time he has to think he’s awesome.

Anyone know if that prick got booked for taking down Fernandes on his assist?

He didn’t. Also loved how Greenwood received a booking for kicking, or rather deflecting a ball away, whereas Brighton received nothing for kicking it out of the stands in a similar situation.

 

[MonkeysMagic]

Long gone are the days when I expect Utd to dominated the opp and outplay them. We are just a dogged team (a good quality to have none the less) with glimpses of good quality but largely very average.

Incredible that defensively we still have players that make fundamental mistakes game after game which cause us to be chasing games. I've given up the coaching being able to correct these mistakes and improve them so we will resort to what we do...buy more players!

 

[Red00012]

Dare I say it a good sign of a team is winning games ugly and playing poorly

At this stage of the season it’s all about results . It’s a shame the majority of our squad won’t have a summer off

 

[tomaldinho1]

Shaw was class, Maguire good (although we’d be clamouring for a peno if that was the other way around). We were our standard selves I guess - awful one half, good the next and ground out a win. I don’t mind those types of games against weaker teams in a season but it’s worrying how often it is.
On a positive, top four is done for us now so there is a genuine chance to rest some players.

 

[The holy trinity 68]

It was always going to be a tough game just after the international break. The most important thing is that the team got a win. Top 4 is pretty much secured now as well, so all in all this was a good result. Spurs, Leicester and Chelsea all dropped points, so it was important to capitalise.

 

[always_hoping]

Same margin of victory and simliar match stats for Man City at home to Brighton recently.

 

[The Brown Bull]

Great result. Big 3 points. We'll done.

 

[OrcaFat]

Good win.

I’m not sure where all the negativity comes from but there was even a separate thread created today about how we were doomed to lose this game just when our rivals had dropped points.

Those who are not happy after that win are in a mindset I’ll never understand.

 

[VeevaVee]

Needed those points but game was tumescent. We don’t look like a team that’s massively bothered about scoring a lot of the time.

 

[diarm]

Is anyone still watching BT Sport? Steve Sidwell speaks unbelievably well. I really like him as a pundit.

 

[city-puma]

Same margin of victory and simliar match stats for Man City at home to Brighton recently.

I think they are one of the most difficult teams to play for us, alongside crystal palace and wolf.